


Tahara’s Odyssey

by Xitty



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-08 01:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 59,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21467914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xitty/pseuds/Xitty
Summary: In an alternate universe from our own, Manzana Tahara gains powers that can manifest his desires and purpose in life, thus he and his friends travel from their town, Santa Maria, California to Cancún, Quintana Roo to find his older brother, Karlo Tahara, who went missing 5 years ago.





	1. The Disappearance of Karlo Tahara

California, Mexico, 2020  
9:59 pm  
It was a warm night in South California, two brothers, Karlo and Manzana were out walking that night, in hopes for some kind of adventure.  
“So..when do you think a big, scary monster will jump out?” Teased Karlo  
“Hey! Don’t scare me like that, burro.” Replied Manzana in a shaky voice  
Karlo chuckled, “Damn, brother. Where’d you learn that word, cabrón?”  
“You! You always say it, pinché burro.”  
Karlo hits Manzana with a stick  
“Okay, hermano, cool it with the marinero talk, eh?”  
Karlo picks up a rock and tosses it around his hand, trying to do a trick.  
“What’re you trying to do?” Asked Manzana  
“None of your business, curioso.”  
Manzana looks around, there’s a large canyon arch going from east to west, it’s painted in blue, red & green  
“Color of the ghosts..” Manzana whispered to himself  
“Color shmolor.” Scoffed Karlo, “I dunno why padré fills your mind with superstition. Why’d you believe in these ghosts anyways?”  
Manzana gazed at the arched canyon, then at Karlo  
“Because I think they’re fasca..fascanate..fa-“  
“Fascinating?” Finished Karlo  
“Yeah, that word.”  
Karlo scoffs again, “Why’d you think these ghosts’ are so fascinating? Mr.Superstitious?”  
“Well, because papa said that with good intentions, you’ll have a good Ghost with you, the brightest blue one, he even said they could give you special gifts! Even before Christmas! I think...”  
Karlo sighed, “And lemme guess, padré said he had a ghost?”  
“Of course!” Manzana says ecstatically  
“He told me his ghost could help him aim better, and even ‘redirect’ bullets with any gun! He even told me he was a gunslinger back in the day!”  
“Ay Manzana, you’ll just believe anything that comes out of that mans’ mouth.  
Karlo glances toward the arched canyon, scoffs again, and throws the rock at the canyon, Manzana gasps and shoves Karlo.  
“Karlo! Why would you do that?! Disrespecting the ghosts like that?!”  
“I want to rid of your belief in these ‘ghosts’ Manzana!”  
Karlo continued to throw the rocks at the canyon, a dark cloud, and a thick mist began to appear around them.  
The Night only grew darker as Karlo kept on provoking the ghosts,  
“C’mon!” He Yelled, “Show yourselves, putos!”  
Fear and despair filled Manzana’s mind, as he watched his brother harass and annoy the ghosts.  
Eventually, Karlo ran out of rocks to throw. The mist and clouds had left, already forgotten.  
“See?” Sighed Karlo, “Nothing happened, it’s just a bunch of cavallo merde!”  
Suddenly, a whirlwind picked up Karlo and tossed him around the air  
“Woaaaaahh! H-holy shit, brother! Help me, dammit!”  
Manzana froze in place, only stammering incoherent sentences.  
“This..” groaned a thundering voice from above, “this, is your punishment for your disrespect!” A giant red cloud appeared over the arch, and grabs Karlo.  
“I will have you captive, for whatever how long. I’ll keep you until you’ve learned your lesson!  
Manzana began to cry, “Please ghost!” Manzana got on his knees, “Don’t take my brother! He didn’t mean it! He uh, he didn’t know! Please have mercy!”  
The red cloud laughed, “Perdón, cabrón! But your brother will have to pay the price! I’ll spare you, since you gave me respect!” Laughed the red cloud, he began to rise up to the sky and deform, taking Karlo with him.  
“Manzana, por favor! I’m sorry, please! Lo siento, Manzana!” Karlo’s voice disappeared, along with the red cloud. 

Manzana wipes his tears, and ran to his house, tripping and tumbling at every step.  
He had reached his home, a one-story wood building with a homemade porch in front of it, sitting in the porch is Manzana’s and Karlo’s father.  
“Papa! Papa!” Cried Manzana  
“Qué, muchacho?! If you yell enough you’ll scare off the night!” Chuckled his father  
“It’s Karlo, papa! The ghosts! They’ve-“  
Manzana was quickly cut off, “Ghosts?” Asks his father, “Ghosts’ got my son?”  
Manzana began to cry again  
“H-how? How did this happen? What did your brother do to bother it so much? What kind of ghost? What colour? What size?!” His father interrogated  
Manzana just sobbed, unable to speak  
“Ay, Manzana. Don’t cry, it’s ok hijo.” His father walked towards him and hugged him, “Just tell me what kind of ghost it was,” His father said in a soft-spoken voice, “Please, hijo.”


	2. No Brightside

Manzana rises up from his bed, he turns over toward his clocks, it reads 7:54 AM.  
He stands up from his bed and goes to the bathroom to wash his face, brush his teeth, and shower. It was an average Tuesday for him.   
He dresses in ripped jeans, a white shirt, and a dark green leather jacket.  
Manzana walks through the living room and into the kitchen and grabs an orange.   
He peels it and walks outside to the porch.  
He sees his father snoring on a rocking chair, slowly going back and forth, and a newspaper from the local printing company.   
Manzana picks it up and reads, “Today marks the 5th Year Anniversary of the disappearance of 15-Year Old Karlo Tahara.”   
He takes a bite out of the orange and continues reading.   
“5 years ago today, Karlo Gusto Tahara suddenly disappeared. With his whereabouts unknown. Not even his 10-year-old brother knew where he went DESPITE being with him that night!” Manzana sighs and takes another bite of the orange, then folds the paper and throws it into the garbage.   
He walks back outside and puts on his boots, and walks to his nearest town, Santa Maria.   
Once there, he’s greeted with colorful, neon signs that displayed the names of the business building it was attached to, children playing and adults laughing.  
Manzana walks to an outdoor bar and approaches two people sitting down, having a conversation. “So, if you were on an island, what would you bring from home?” asked a boy wearing a black bomber jacket covering a dark green shirt, accompanied with black combat pants and boots.  
“Nothing, I would go to civilization.” Replied a girl, wearing a red poncho with a yellow zig-zag pattern in the middle. Under it, a black tank top, accompanied with baggy jean pants and dress shoes.  
“What?!” Shouts the boy, “But there is no civilization!”

“Well, you didn’t specify what kind of island it was, so I just assumed it’s like that new place they’re building near the ocean, ‘Cancún’ “  
The boy stomps his foot, “Fine! It’s a deserted island, what do you bring?”   
The girl scratches her chin, “I’d bring a million dollars, hire some workers and have them build my own home the size of the Golden Gate Bridge!”  
The boy stomps his foot more  
“No! No! OK, you’re on a deserted island, right?”

The girl nods  
“And you're just surrounded by the ocean, just you and the ocean, OK?”   
the girl nods  
“And you can only bring ONE thing from home, what will it be?”   
The girl glances at the sky for a moment before looking at the boy again,   
“I’ll bring the house.” Said the girl with a fake serious look  
“Goddamn it!” Shouts the boy “You friggin’ smartass.”

The boy glances at Manzana and back at the girl, “Ey, Zana’s here.”   
Manzana sits down near them and calls for the bartender.  
“Gimme a lemonade, please.” Asks Manzana   
“Sorry, muchacho. But we’re all out of lemonade.”   
“Bullshit! there’s a lemon tree over there!” Complained Manzana pointing at the lemon tree near the outdoor bar, but the bartender just snickers and shrugs then walks away.   
“Fuckin’ culo never wants to serve me..” Manzana says under his breath 

“Anyways, what’s up with you guys?” Asked Manzana   
“Well, Joseph and I heard from some drunkard that some shootouts gonna happen near the lemon tree. Apparently, the guy who runs the bodega caught the delivery boy making love to his wife.”   
“Aye, Mary. Why do you gotta say ‘make love’? Just say they had sex.” Chastised Joseph   
“When’s this shootout starting?” Asked Manzana   
Joseph looks behind himself, “It oughta be right now, look!” 

Joseph points at a middle-aged man with a mustache and a young man with blonde hair walk up to each other.  
“No disrespect Mr. Sanchez, but your wife was asking for my young dick, not your wrinkly limp weenie.” Shouts the young man, the children behind giggle and laugh   
“Pinché burro. I’ll teach you to not mess with a mans’ marriage, cabrón!”  
Both men pull out a gun, and quickly run for cover, despite the fact neither of them shot yet. Friggin’ dumbasses.” Sighs Joseph, “let’s not waste our time watching this. Let’s steal some shit from the bodega while the old man is busy waving his gun around.”   
Joseph stood up from his chair and began to walk toward the bodega near the gun show.

Just then, a single man wearing a yellow do-rag with black spots, and a formal suit with the same pattern as the do-rag, begins to walk right in the middle of the gunfight, under the lemon tree.  
The shop clerk and delivery boy suddenly stand up from their cover, walk towards each other, then stop once they face one another.  
They then put their guns to their head and shoot.   
They both fall over, dead.

The bystanders gasp and walk back, some even flee the scene.   
The odd man scratches his eyeballs, and grabs bottled pills from his coat pocket, opens it, and swallows two light green pills.  
He sighs in relief and begins to climb to the límon tree. Joseph walks next to Manzana and whispers in his ear,   
“Hey, Zana. What kind of drugs you think he’s swallowin’, eh?”   
Manzana pinches and twists Josephs’ ear.  
“Hey, hey! The hell did I do?!”

“Mr. Sanchez and the delivery boy just shot themselves, and all you’re worried about is what kind of drugs he’s on?! Eres un puto payaso..” Scolded Manzana in a half-whisper.  
Manzana let’s go of Josephs’ ear and continues to watch the man climb up the límon tree. The man stands on the top of the tree without wobbling or shaking, he then clears his throat.   
“I am looking for a ‘Manzana Tahara’, kid’s about 5’10, dark hair, really ugly too.”   
Joseph gets near Manzanas’ ear again, “I think he’s talking about you, bro.”   
There’s complete silence, bystanders just awkward stare at the well-dressed man on the tree. The man clears his throat again.  
“My name is Fernando Venino, I was born into a middle-classed family.”  
Joseph scoffs loudly, “The hell’s this crackhead on about?”  
“I graduated top of my class, but my parents expected more. Despite being retail workers and working in fast food, they wanted me to carry them into wealth because of my education. But, the pressure of others’ expectations threw me off the train tracks. My grades depleted, and I was eventually disowned by my family when it was confirmed that I had to stay in senior year of Highschool for a second time.”   
Fernando grabs a glass of water from his pocket and drinks it.   
“What a refreshment. Anyhow, after that, my life kind of collapsed. I bought illegal drugs, drunk drove and committed adulatory with a wife I had at the time. One time, when I was driving with a street girl. I was drunk, very drunk. I was as blind as a bat!” He chuckles and sips the glass water “Apparently, I was driving around a neighborhood, and I hit a kid! Somehow, I snapped out of my drunkness, both I and the girl got out of the car and saw some kid, dead on the floor, and bleeding from his head, a real shit show.”   
Fernando giggles loudly, but quickly switches to a straight face. “The girl was panicking, and I tried to calm her down. I said if she were to take the body, and hide it, she wouldn’t get in trouble! Little did I know, forensic science was a thing. But I somehow convinced her to actually do it! Now, I thought I had the talent to convince any girl to do anything, just because of that event. So I tried it on some girl I met in a bar, café, and restaurants, and I talked them into doing the most heinous crimes! Murder, kidnapping, extortion, etc. but, not only did I gain the talent to sweet-talk any woman I’ve come across, but I’ve also gained a supernatural power. I traveled to Cancún to watch the construction, and hope to get in the pants of lady architects, when suddenly, in the corner of my eye, a man wearing all white, white overcoat, pants, dress shoes, glasses, and even gloves! I impulsively approach to him, I don’t remember what I said to him, or what I said back. But something about this man was..’ attractive’. Anyways, the only thing I remember from the encounter was one sentence that man said, that sentence will forever stay with me until the day I die.. ‘Wanna see something cool?’ And I suddenly passed out. I woke up with the knowledge of an ability that I had, it was the ability to manipulate one’s mind, and I can make it so whoever I’m controlling does whatever I tell them to. Which is why I am here.” Joseph walks up to Manzana with Mary, “I’ve had enough of this weirdo, let’s get outta here.”   
“Manzana Tahara!” Yelled Fernando, pointing directly as Manzana, “I have no idea why, but I have a strong intention of killing you!”   
Fernando leaps off the tree, and lands on all fours, he slowly gets up.   
“Kill that kid!” He points at Manzana again, but all the bystanders and citizens turn to him with ominous purple eyes. What the hell?” Groaned Joseph, “It looks like they’re under a spell or something!!” Joseph looks at Manzana and grabs his arm, “Let's get the hell outta here, Zana!”   
Manzana releases himself from Josephs’ grab.   
“Don’t worry about it, hurry up and go somewhere safe. I can take ‘em.”   
Joseph groans, “You goddamn moron! Drop the tough guy act, and let’s go!”   
Manzana ignores Joseph and begins to walk toward the crowd of people staring at him. “You wanna fight? Let’s go. I don’t have all day.”   
Fernando motions his hands to Manzana, and the mind-controlled citizens spring toward Manzana.  
“See? This is my power! I can make anyone do my bidding! I could rule the world! Hell, I might even name this Power!”  
Two citizens tackle Manzana, and start clawing at his face, Manzana pushes both of them off, but more pile onto him.

“ ‘Brightside’... ‘Mr.Brightside’... That’s a good name! It gives off the feeling of warm, and good intentions! Oh, the irony!” Fernando laughs hysterically, rolling on the floor.   
“Quit giggling, damn clown.”   
Fernando looks up, and sees Manzana standing, with the unconscious bodies of the citizens surround him. Fernando’s hysteria ends, it quickly turns into a nervous one,  
“W-What! How did you.. but you were tackled, being doggy-piled!”   
Manzana spits on the ground, “Enough of this, gimme your best shot!”


	3. No Brightside Part 2

“Enough of this! Gimme your best shot.” Yells Manzana, he gets into a fighting stance   
Joseph wipes his sweat-ridden face, he sighs in exasperation, “Damn it, Zana! Let’s go, Mary!”   
“W-What? Aren’t we gonna help, Zana? Hey! Where are we going?!” Mary asks very quickly   
“Just shuddup real quick! We’re going somewhere safe, now come on!” Ordered Joseph, he grabs her by the arm and they both run off to a nearby alleyway. 

Fernando scratches his eyeball, “Geez kid if you wanna die so bad, just ask nicely for it!”   
Suddenly, a group of pit bulls sprint from behind Fernando, and toward Manzana.   
Manzana gasps, and dashed to the límon tree, climbing it until he reaches the end.  
Fernando laughs hysterically, “HaHa! So you’re afraid of dogs, is that it?” Fernando laughs louder, not noticing that some bystanders have been snapped out of his mind control.   
“Are you serious?” Sighs Manzana, “I’m not afraid of dogs, I’ll just never hurt one. You’re a monster for making one go against me.”   
Manzana adjusts his leather jacket,  
“Which is why I’m going to beat your ass to the sky.”   
Fernando chuckles, “Ha! No worries, the dogs can just climb up there!”   
The dogs do not climb the tree  
“The hell?!” Fernando Yells, “Why aren’t they doing what I say?!”   
“I think I got it,” Manzana Says quietly, but loud enough for Fernando to hear  
“W-What?! The hell you say? You got what, huh punk?!”   
Manzana sighs, “Your ‘power’ lets you control minds, but probably won’t do something that’s beyond them. Yes, pit bulls can climb trees, but my guess is that these can’t.” 

Fernando scratches his eyeball in frustration, “Fine! If they won’t do it, I’ll make them!”   
Fernando runs towards one of the pit bulls, grabs them, and chucks it to Manzana. 

Manzana freezes in shock, and the dog knocks him down, but he quickly grabs onto a branch.  
“The hell’s this guys’ problem?!” He thought to himself.  
Manzana pulls himself back onto the top of the tree, nearly falling down once he got back on top.  
“Just give it up, kid!” Laughs Fernando, “You’re gonna come down here sooner or later, and besides, you don’t even have anything to defend yourself!”   
Manzana cracks a smile, “Wrong. While I was running toward this tree, I happened to pick up a few things on the way.”   
Manzana digs into his pocket to reveal pebbles and small rocks.   
“Rocks?!” Fernando Yells in confusion, “The hell are you gonna do with them?!” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Groaned Manzana, “I’m gonna throw them at you! With a special technique, I like to call, ‘ Rock Kicker ‘ !”   
Manzana tosses three rocks in the air and kicks them to Fernando’s direction, one hitting his stomach, his knee, and his forehead.   
“H-hey! Stop that, assface!” Fernando was quickly interrupted by a fourth rock.   
“That’s it!” Fernando Yells in frustration, “You wanna get rough?! Let’s get rough! ‘ Mr. Brightside ‘ !”   
Fernando’s body begins to sparkle and glimmer, purple smoke radiates from his back.  
A silhouette of a figure with feathers all over his body begins to form behind Fernando, suddenly it takes physical form.   
Behind Fernando, with its back turned, a tall, light purple-skinned man, his abnormal skin is accompanied with feathers covering his arms and legs, numerous violet-colored eyes form on his back.  
The figure turns around to face Manzana, his dark, purple-colored eyes stare coldly at Manzana. 

“I bet you weren’t expecting this, huh?” Taunts Fernando, “Mr. Brightside! Fuck that tree up to oblivion!!”   
Mr. Brightside sprints toward Manzana at high speeds, he quickly breaks down his sprint right next to the tree and punches it at a speed where his fists are barely visible.   
The tree’s wood begins chipping and breaking down,   
“This isn’t good!” Though Manzana, “I need to get away from this payaso!” 

Manzana leaps off the tree, and dashes toward the outdoor bar, he quickly hides under a table and watches as ‘Mr. Brightside’ breaks tears down the tree.  
“The hell is that thing?” Manzana thought to himself, “Is that Fernandos’ ‘supernatural power’? Is this the thing that’s mind-controlling people?!”   
Manzana catches an odd smell, he sniffs left and right, but he can’t find the location of the scent.   
A brown liquid starts leaking from above the table, Manzana wipes the liquid with his finger, he puts it near his nose and smells it.   
“This is..” Manzana gasps, “Gasoline!!”   
He crawls out of the table to see the barkeep pouring gasoline around the outdoor bar, he turns to face Manzana, he has the same purple colored eyes as Fernando’s power, he smiles at Manzana as he reveals a lit match.

“M-Mary! Up here, this spot’s pretty safe!” Whispered Joseph, he opens a door leading to a rooftop, it overviews the entire town, he and Mary begin walking up toward it.  
“We shouldn’t have run, Joseph! We could’ve helped Zana.” Nagged Mary  
“No! No, no. I can’t risk that, sis. If we were to stay there, who knows what would’ve happened? You could’ve died there!”   
Mary scoffs, “Whatever, Joseph.”   
They arrive at the rooftop, they see a large group of civilians just wandering around with dark-purple eyes.  
Mary sits on the edge of the rooftop, “Joseph Siant, always letting people take on situations by themselves when they’re in dire need of help.” She mumbles  
“Oh just shuddup, Mary. Manzana can hold his own, trust me. If he uses that ‘ Rock Kick’ technique he made, he’ll be fine against that ‘Fernando Venino’”   
Suddenly, the outdoor bar erupts in a fiery explosion, the fire being at least 299 feet tall.   
“What the hell?!” Yells Joseph, “That’s the outdoor bar! Manzana was near there!”   
Mary gasps, But turns her shocked face into a stern one, she gets down from the rooftop and walks down the stairs.   
“Mary! What’re you doing?! Get back!” Yelled Joseph   
“No, Joseph! Manzana needed help! And he might be dying in that fire! I don’t care what you say, I’m going down there to help him!” Yells Mary in a passionate, yet stern tone.   
She quickly runs off to the outdoor bar, “No! Mary! Please, just listen to me!”, But it was too late, Mary had already runoff.   
Joseph stomps his foot in irritation, “Damn it, Mary! Why don’t you ever listen to me?”  
Joseph paces back in forth, thinking “Why the hell didn’t I stop her?” He jeered at himself, “I’m so friggin’ useless..”   
he looks from the rooftop, viewing at the rising fire.  
“Ah, Hell.” He sighs, “What was I thinking? Manzana does need help!”   
He runs down the stairs and toward the bar, “don’t worry, Zana! I’m coming!” 

The explosion causes Manzana to fly out of the bar, he’s thrown into the tree stump, and lands in a sitting position, blood covers Manzana’s hands and face, his clothes his ripped and his arms are numb, Fernando begins to approach him, laughing. 

“Ahahaha! You can’t beat me without power like mine! I guess you aren’t gonna beat my ass to oblivion, huh? Ahahahaha!” He laughs hysterically, “This freakin’ town will be your tomb, kiddo! You’re dead!”   
“No!” Manzana yells, Fernando quickly stops laughing, “I won’t die! And I know that for a fact. Why? Because I’m determined... Determined to kick your ass!”   
Fernando uncontrollable sweat, “Why am I so nervous?!” He thinks to himself, “He’s vulnerable! I have nothing to worry about! Why’re my hands shaking?”  
“W-well.” Fernando says with a shaky voice, he clears his throat, “Well.. how’re you gonna beat me... if your arm is totally obliterated!!”   
Fernando points at Manzana’s left arm, it’s charred texture and twisted form.   
“Ha! I’m feelin’ a bit more confident again!” Fernando thinks to himself, “it’s not like he can actually beat me in that kind of state!” 

Manzana spits out blood, “It doesn’t matter that my arm’s jacked up, that won’t stop me from beating you senseless!!” Manzana Yells, Fernando steps back a bit.  
“I’m tired of this kid! Mr. Brightside, finish him!” Fernando yells, ‘Mr. Brightside’ appears in front of Fernando, he slowly walks toward Manzana.   
“No! Stop!!” A young girls’ voice echoes through the town, Mary comes running toward Fernando, “Stop it! You don’t have to kill him!”   
“Why does it matter to you? Just screw off, kid.” Snickers Fernando   
“Why do you want to kill him anyways, Mr. Venino? He hasn’t done anything to you!” Shouts Mary  
“You don’t listen, do you? I said, ‘screw off’!” Fernando roundhouse kicks Mary on the head, she falls over, landing on her arm.   
“Heh, you’re a real stubborn one, aren’t you?” Chuckle Fernando, “Sorry for kicking you like that, I didn’t usually hit pretty girls..”   
Fernando walks toward Mary and crouches by her.  
“You must be around 15 to 16, right? Heh, 3 or 2 more years, you and I can maybe hang out..” he says in an awkwardly seductive tone.   
“..Go to hell, sicko!” Mary spits directly on Fernandos’ face.   
He wipes the spit off of his face and licks it, Mary gasps in utter disgust.   
“You know, I don’t mind the saliva of women, you basically just gave me your free sample! Can’t wait to try more..” 

“Hey!!” Joseph yells from a distance, “Don’t go near her, you dickweed!”   
He runs toward them and tries to dropkick Fernando, but he is immediately stopped by someone. It’s the charred, burned, crisp and purple-eyed body of the barkeep grabbing onto Joseph, preventing him from moving.   
“The.. The hell?!” Joseph stammers, the barkeep throws Joseph around in a circle, and let’s go of Joseph, having him land near Fernando.  
“Aw man, my head!” Joseph struggles to stand up, his vision is blurred and constantly shifting.   
He finally steadies himself, but he sees Fernando standing in front of him, Fernando's gut punches Joseph, Joseph nearly falls backward, but Fernando grabs him by the shoulder and headbutts him, finally allowing him to fall.   
“Are you serious?! You literally just cockblocked me!”   
Fernando kicks Joseph in the nose, “You’ll know what I do to cockblockers!”   
Mary tackles Fernando from behind, he hits face-first to the ground.   
“Don’t touch my brother!” Mary yells in rage, she grabs Fernando by the head and repeatedly hits his head against the floor.   
2 mind-controlled citizens grab both Marys’ arms and legs, restraining her.   
Fernando gets up, and spits out blood, he wipes his nose to find blood leaking out.   
“Damn you, girl.” He sighs, “Why the hell are you so stubborn?”   
Mary smirks at him, “I dunno, I guess I have a strong intent on helping people in dire need, which means I won’t let anyone be hurt by you! No one will die and neither will I! I’ll live to help people from other like you!”   
Fernando laughs, “I guess your intentions will go to waste, huh?”   
A small pebble is thrown at Fernandos’ head, behind him.   
Fernando takes a deep breath, and sighs, “What is up with you little assholes and your pebbles?!”   
He turns around to see Joseph, holding onto his stomach, “Hey, asshole. Aren’t you gonna finish me?” Joseph wipes the snot dripping from his nose, “What kind of man are you who won’t finish someone off?” Joseph smirks at him, “But anyways, please let her go. She hasn’t done much to you.. please..”   
Fernando walks toward Joseph and touches him under the chin.   
“The fuck’s your problem, dildo?” Fernando asks with a deep voice.   
Joseph shudders, he immediatley gets goosebumps, Joseph gulps loudly, “Hell if I know, really. I’m just kinda hellbent on saving people. Like my sister you were just harassing.”   
“Harassing?” Questioned Fernando, “No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong, I’m not harassing her in any way, shape or form. I’m just trying to mature her, mature her into a very loving adult..”   
“She’s 15, you creep!” Joseph spits directly in Fernandos’ eye.   
Fernando steps back a few steps before wiping the saliva out of his eye. He looks directly at Joseph, “You think you’re real funny, huh dildo-Baggins?”   
Suddenly, an enormous group of mind-controlled citizens walk behind him and stop.   
“Hey, Mr. Brightside, kill this kid,” Fernando says nonchalantly  
The group of people sprint toward Joseph and tackle him.   
They restrain him by holding and straining his legs and arms tightly, 4-5 mind-controlled people take turns to punch Joseph in the face, gut, and other areas.   
They drop Joseph from his restraint, and back away. Joseph wearily attempts to get up, blood drips from his nose, bruises and scars form onto his face.   
“The hell’s happening?” Joseph thought to himself, “Did...Did Fernando call them off?”   
From the sky, Joseph spots a black, almost burnt looking figure.   
It was the charred and burnt bartender! He was plunging down toward Joseph with a smile that goes from ear to ear, he readies his elbow and plows into Josephs’ ribs.   
The impact causes the burnt bartender to dissolve into ash and small, crisped skin particles, the wind picks up on them and blows them away.   
Joseph lies on the floor, blood flooding his mouth, and forcing him to either choke on it and digest, or gagging it out.   
Fernando approaches Joseph and looks down at him.   
“So, you say you have some kind of desire to save people like your sister, right? Well then, dildo-daggins. How’re you gonna be saving, when you’re dying, and choking on your own blood?! You’re pathetic!”   
Joseph spits blood at Fernandos’ face and smiles at him again.   
“You’re such a comedian.,” Fernando says, somewhat calmly, before smashing Josephs’ face with the end of his shoe.   
“Such. A. Fuckin’. COMEDIAN” Fernando yells with every stomp. 

Joseph didn’t spit at him again, nor did he breathe.  
Fernando grabs onto Josephs’ hand and checks his pulse. Cold.   
He tosses his hand near his torso and turns toward Mary.   
“Well, well, well. I guess we won’t have any—“ Fernando stops what he’s saying, to see Mary, just lying on the floor.   
Fernando approaches her and feels her arm and neck, entirely cold.   
He checks her pulse, there is none.  
“Damn, She must’ve died from shock when she saw her brother die. Oh, well! Mission accomplished! I dunno why ‘Boss-Man’ was so worried about these twerps!”   
Fernando began to joyfully stroll out of Santa Maria until a single pebble is thrown at him again.   
He turns around aggressively, but the aggression quickly turned into fear.   
“Hey! You think I’m done with you?!” Yells Manzana, standing up as if he weren’t hurt at all, “Your dumbass took about an hour to finish me off, and I’ll keep my promise! I’ll beat you to oblivion!!”   
White smoke starts radiate from Manzanas’ back, and a medium-sized, misty figure begins to form behind him...


	4. First Wind

An hour before... 

“My.. vision..” Manzana thought to himself, as he laid on the tree stump, “It’s.. darkening..” Manzana struggles to breathe, he watches as he sees both his friends get harassed and bullied by a grown man, “Everything’s cold.. so cold..” Manzana didn’t have the strength to even blink, he just wearily breathed as he thought to himself, “I thought that Karlo disappearing could make me as tough as nails.. emotionally, I guess it kinda did.. but physically? I’m just some kid trying to take on someone with inhuman powers..”   
Manzana watched as Fernando slurped on the saliva Mary spat at him.

“Damn it. I can’t just lay here and watch them get hurt by this asshole..” Manzana grits his teeth in frustration, “I promise you guys, I’ll beat him into the sky!”   
His eyelids became heavy, he didn’t have the strength to keep them open.   
His body was entirely numb, his breathing was becoming less frequent and quieter.   
“I promise.. you... I’ll.. beat him..” Manzana gave out his last breath, he slumped over, his eyes were lifeless, and his body was cold. 

Manzana suddenly woke up in a white room, there was nothing and no one, just complete emptiness.   
He looks at his body, and there were no injuries! Even his left arm wasn’t injured, it was as if no harm was done to him at all.   
He got up and began looking around, the room was absolutely devoid of sound and sight, there weren’t even walls, or so it seemed.  
A gust of wind blew, it was strong enough to get Manzana into a stance so he could keep standing.   
A gas erupts from the ground, it glimmers, and a misty body began to take form.   
It has somewhat slender, but a curvy torso   
It had no legs, nor did it seem to have a mouth.   
In place of legs, it has a single tentacle lifting it.   
It is completely black but has several, small, white dots all around its entire body, they grew bright as if they were stars.   
It is also accompanied by a black, sugar skull-Esque mask embedded onto its face, on the mask has white paint outlining this skull itself, with red and blue paint marks accompanying the mask, as if they were there by accident.   
Its’ hands to its arms were completely white, with a streak of black going through it. 

After it manifests fully, it slowly approaches Manzana.  
Instinctively, Manzana steps back a little.   
“Do not worry..” it spoke in a soft, but somber tone, “Sit down, I would like to talk with you, Manzana Tahara.”   
The thing slowly lowers itself to the ground, it caresses it’ arms in an odd manner.  
Manzana looked at it, confused, “How do you know my name? And where am I?”   
The thing looks up at Manzana, and glances toward the ground.   
“I am you...” it said quietly   
“What?” Manzana says loudly, “You need to speak up, you sound muffled. It must be that sugar skull mask.”   
Manzana struggles to pull the mask off but to no avail.   
”The hell’s up with your mask? Why’s it stuck onto your face?” Asks Manzana

”It’s supposed to represent you, in some sort of way.” Answers the person  
Manzana sighs with agitation, ”Represents me? How so?”

The thing glances toward another direction, ”I wouldn't know. I was just born...”  
Manzana sighs, ”Sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. What did you just say?”  
The person clears their throat, ”I wouldn't know, Manzana Tahara. I was just born.”   
”Just as I thought. You know, I dunno why I'm not acting so surprised as I should be. I guess the bizarre event with Fernando Venino really left me desensitized.” Manzana glances around, then locks his eyes on the person, ”But tell me, how were you just born? Why am I here? And who are you, exactly?  
”I could really only answer two of your questions.   
One, I am the physical manifestation of your mentality. But technically, I'm the mental manifestation of the physical manifestation of your mentality.   
Two, You were just sadly departed from your life and your unfortunate demise lead you here, and that leads me to suddenly wake up here with that prior knowledge. Thirdly, I don't have any idea who I am”

”I’m just... Absolutely flabbergasted. I died, and you’re basically the physical ’manifestation’ of my ’mentality’? So you're just made up of my attitude, thinking, or intelligent thoughts?”   
The person only shrugged.   
”But the last part, you don't know who you are? Not even a name?” Manzana asked the person, they shook their heads whilst staring at him.   
”Well, how about I give you one? Since you're made up of my thoughts, you're practically a creation of mine.”  
Manzana begins to pace around them, analyzing them, and looking closely at their attire.   
The thing stared at him the whole time.  
“Your entire body void, almost space-like because of those glowing dots on your jet-black skin. But, you have that sugar skull mask on your face.”   
Manzana fidgets his foot before finally coming to a conclusion.   
“I’ll call you ‘ Space Oddity ‘ “

“ ‘Space Oddity’...” It said slowly to itself, “I think I might like it!”   
Manzana cracks a small smile, “Now, how do we get out of here?”   
Space Oddity points toward nothing, “Over there, just walk over there.”  
Manzana looks at them, confused.   
“So I just endlessly walk toward the abyss?” Chuckled Manzana  
“Basically.” Replied Space Oddity, “Trust me, it’ll guide you out of here. I might not the basic things like my name, but I was graced with the knowledge of knowing how this place works.”   
Manzana nods and begins to walk aimlessly toward nothing, but Space Oddity quickly stops him by grabbing onto his arm.

“Manzana, if you leave this place. You will be granted the second chance at living again, but I won’t be able to talk with you any longer. I know that you’re probably still confused about this whole “manifestation” thing, but I promise you, someone wise will tell you, and show you how.”   
Manzana looks at them, confused, “Show me how? How to what?”   
“How to use me. Once you get back out there, I will be there by your side, and I will answer to your every command, I’ll grant you supernatural and inhuman buffs.”   
Something in Manzana clicked, and it got him riled up.  
“So what you mean, is that I’ll have powers like Fernando Venino? And I’ll be able to beat him?” Manzana said eagerly   
“Yes! You’ll be able to have the chance to defeat Fernando,” Space Oddity said joyfully, “But watch out, Manzana. If you die again, you won’t have a second chance at this. But I may be wrong..”   
Space Oddity let’s go of Manzanas’ arm and playfully pushes him forward.   
Manzana looks at Space Oddity, and smiles, he begins to jog toward nothing, and the jog turned into an everlasting sprint.   
“Can’t wait to see you again, Space Oddity!” He yells  
His vision becomes blurry, and white fog fills his sight. 

He suddenly wakes up, he’s back near the tree stump, but he’s with more energy than ever.   
He sees Fernando walking out of Santa Maria, he points at him and shouts, “Hey! You think I’m done with you?!”   
He watches as Fernando turns around with an angry expression, but it quickly changes into a nervous one.   
Suddenly, from behind Manzana, Space Oddity begins to take form.  
First, their head manifests, then their torso, and finally the single tentacle lifting them up.  
“Looks’ like I got a supernatural power too, huh Fernando?” Manzana stares Fernando down with a cold stare.  
Fernandos’ lip quivers, “N-no.. it can't be! You died!” Exclaims Fernando, he puts his fist up in the air and shouts, “M-Mr. Brightside!” He stammered, “Use the mind-controlled citizens, and beat that kid and his new power”

Manzana glances at Space Oddity, then at Fernando.   
“Alright, Space Oddity.” He says under his breath, “Let’s see if getting your power was worth dying for.” 

A few minutes before.

Mary watched as a stranger beat her brother senseless, needless to say, it overwhelmed her.   
With all the stress and anxiety piling up inside her, Mary couldn’t take it.   
She felt helpless, knowing that there’s nothing she could do to help her brother in any way.   
She turns toward Manzana, to see his lifeless body, slumped over, as if he were a beggar taking a nap.   
Mary began to sweat intensely, dread and fear was the only thing that could describe what she felt.   
Mary backed away slowly from Fernando, and a headache overcame her.   
The immense pain coated her brain, aching it with a sharp sting in all directions of her head.   
Mary began to bang her head with the palm of her left hand, struggling to soothe the pain.   
She collapsed to her knees, and her life felt cold.   
So did her arms and face, her limbs became numb and her vision became dark and indistinct.   
”Why am I feeling like this?” Mary said out loud, her words were slurred and sluggish, ”Why’s my sight like this? It's not like I'm low on iron...”   
Mary fully collapsed to the ground, she struggled to get up, but her efforts were wasted, as she just laid there.   
She lifts up her poncho to see that it’s been torn and muddy from being on the ground.   
Mary slams her fist down on the ground, ”Damn you, Venino. You ninny. I’ll make you pay for ruining my poncho... You... Asshole...” Mary blurted, before drawing her last breath. 

Marys’ eyes closed, but she felt a bright light being shined on her.   
She opens her eyes to find herself in a peculiar white room.   
She stood up and began to walk haphazardly around the room, seemingly having no dead-ends or walls.   
She heard the noise of erratic footsteps behind her, she quickly turned, but to find nothing there.   
Nervous, Mary walks in a straight line and hears the same unnatural sets of footsteps from behind her again!   
She quickly turns, but there was nothing there, only a small puddle of water.   
Mary approaches the puddle and dips her finger into it, it’s unusually sticky, not only that, it’s accompanied with an abnormal stench.   
Mary felt a drop of water from above, like a raindrop in a cool February morning.   
The small drops continued, the only one after another getting faster.   
The wet drops began to roll down her face and toward her chin, like a single tear.   
Mary hastily looks upward, to discover someone latched onto the ceiling, drool pouring from their mouth, and onto Marys’ head.   
Mary screams and falls backward, watching the thing slowly lift itself down with their bizarrely inhuman arm, it reaches the ground and takes a step forward, toward Mary. 

It had a large mouth but was missing teeth.   
It had oddly vast eyes with small extremely small irises and pupils, but the eyeball itself was completely black, its’ eye color was the purest white, whilst its iris was a dark blue.   
Its arms were both buff and masculine, but it had a feminine body.   
Its legs were tall, but its torso couldn't compare. Its’ thighs were somewhat plump but robust.   
It seemed nude, but it didn't bare genitals.   
It had long, lanky arms, and looked like it didn't have bones in them. 

Its skin had a straight line going down through it, with the left side having pure white, and the right side having jet black, but small white crosses patterned all over it. 

It paced around Mary, analyzing her, smelling her, and tasting her hair.   
Mary shivered, she felt goosebumps all over her arms and back. She stepped away from the creature, she tried to speak, but the words couldn’t come out.   
But the creature watched her patiently as if it knew she was trying to say something.  
“W-wha—“ she blurted out, The thing steps closer toward her, seeming like it’s trying to hear Mary more clearly.   
“Wha- what are you?” Mary asked with a slight quiver to her voice, “What are you, exactly?”   
It didn’t respond, and they both just stood there in silence.   
“Y-you won’t kill me, right?” She said fearfully, almost in tears by its’ uncanny presence.   
The thing wipes a bit of drool off its lip and clears its throat.   
“Nnnnnooo... N-Nnnnnnnnnoooo....” It said with a low, growly voice.   
“No? No to not hurting me? Or killing me?” She said in a quiver.  
It nods while twisting its lanky arm backward and scratches its back.   
“Well then, if that’s the case. I thank you. Really, I do” Mary said sincerely.   
It smiled at her and wiped some drool leaking out of its mouth.   
“Who are you then? And where am I? If you don’t mind asking.”   
At this point, all fear of the creature faded and dissolved from Mary. She didn’t care if it could’ve lied to her, she didn’t let that kind of paranoia pile up inside her. 

The thing wrapped it’s head with its arms and scratched the back of its head, and punched its own throat. A ball of saliva came out and landed on the ground.   
“Ttthhhhisss iiiissss...” it cleared its throat, “This is the innards of your mind..” it’s voice became less slurred, but its voice was still low and growly, “This is the inside of your mind, and I am what represents your mentality.”   
Mary exhales sharply, “how could this represent me? And the inside of my ‘mind’? What kind of fever dream is this? Is this a fever dream? Did that occurrence with Fernando, Joseph, and Manzana just a dream? Did I get a fever this morning? Yeah, yeah, that must be it! This is all a dream, this isn’t real at all! This isn’t real...” She thought to herself, she was sure that it was all some kind of fever dream.   
“It’s not a dream, Mary.” The thing spoke, “This is a reality, Maria Siant. And you died, and that’s why you’re here.”   
Marys’ palms began to sweat, her breathing was unsteady and heavy.   
“D-died? I died?” She thought to herself. It all became clear to her, it all was really real, what she was experiencing was real, and what the thing was telling her was the truth.

“But, do not worry, Mary. You’ve been given a second chance.” Growled the creature.  
“Second chance? At living?” Asked Mary

“Yes, a second chance on life. But, with the second chance, you’ve been graced with new power.”   
“Power?” She tilts her head in confusion, “Power of what?”   
It smiles at her again, “the power of me. You see, I am what most call a ‘Manifest’, I am the physical ‘manifestation’ of your mentality. I represent either your personality, aspirations, traits, fears or feelings. Honestly, I don’t know what I represent, but I hope you can figure it out since I was just born here.”   
“Just born here?” She asked, “So, you have no name? Or anything?”  
“No, not at all.” It responded, “But I highly suggest that you do name me, so we could have somewhat of a bond, but don’t treat me as some kind of pet, either.” It wiped some saliva dripping from its lip.  
“Name you? Well..” she thought about a name, she looked at the creatures’ appearance, but couldn’t think of anything.

“You said that I could use the power of ‘you’, what do you mean by that? What’s your power?” She interrogated   
The thing looks at Marys’ legs and crouches down.  
“See that?” It points at her knee, it’s has a medium-sized cut going through her pants and into her skin.   
“I’ve been cut? How didn’t I realize the pain?” She thought to herself, whilst the creature just kept on talking.  
“Watch this, see?” It touches her knee, where the cut is, and it slowly, but surely regenerated, and healed!   
“Healing?” She said loudly, “You can heal!”   
It smiles at Mary again, “Yes! Yes, I can heal! I can heal wounds! But, that’s all I know I can do, I don’t know if I have any other powers.”   
Mary giggles and an idea suddenly lights up in her mind, “I know! I’ll call you ‘ Ave Maria ‘ !”   
“ ‘Ave Maria’ ?” It said back, “Like, the religious character, Virgin Mary?”   
Mary nods, and joyfully springs up and began to pace around,  
“A power of my own? And I could heal?! I’ve always fantasized being some kind of ‘miracle worker’” She quickly halts and turns toward ‘Ave Maria’  
“Wait, if this is my ‘mind’, then how do we get out of here?” She questioned 

Ave Maria smiles at her again, “It’s okay! I have a perfectly good, reasonable and logical solution! All you have to do is walk in a straight line for a certain amount of time, and eventually, you’ll leave your own mind, and enter back to your once deceased corpse, but leave quick, it’s rotting quickly.” 

“Oh, crud! If that’s the case, then let’s get out of here!” Shouts Mary, she sprints to nothing in an instant.   
Her vision became blurry and misty, she felt dizzy, she collapsed on the floor, temporarily losing consciousness.

She wakes back up, she’s back on the cold, floor of Santa Maria.   
The smell of fire and gasoline is a stench that still lingered, Mary pushed herself up from the ground and saw Manzana standing up as if he weren’t just in an explosion, and Fernando, having the same mind-controlled citizens behind him.   
She glances at Manzana again and saw his arm completely charred to almost a crisp.   
She stood up, and thought of Ave Maria, “Ave Maria...” she whispered to herself, nothing happened.   
“Ave Maria,” she repeated, “Ave Maria, Ave Maria...” She thought about them harder.   
“Ave Maria!” Suddenly from behind her, Ave Maria steps out of her back and stands with her.   
“Alright, Ave Maria. Go work some miracles!” She said joyfully

A few moments before...

Joseph laid on the cold, cold ground. Blood floods his mouth, slowly pouring out, and creating a small puddle beneath his head.   
Joseph started to touch and feel around his face, a boot pattern stained and marked his face.   
He wearily lifts up his head to see Fernando crouching near Mary, then glances at Manzanas’ dead body, his skin looking pale, and blood on his clothes becoming dry.   
Joseph no longer had the strength to lift his head up, he lies on the floor, cold and afraid of dying, and losing his life.   
He sighs shakily and closes his eyes.   
Joseph takes a few deep breaths, clenching his fist hard, tears began to well up in his eyes.  
He silently sobs as he caresses his arms, taking his last breaths.   
Joseph closed his eyes, and died silently, cold, and alone, on the cold, brick ground of Santa Maria. 

Joseph felt wind below him as if he were falling down a pit.   
He struggles to open his eyes, but once he does, he finds in a white room, he turns to see downward, but it’s nothing but a white void!  
He turns back and crosses his arms.  
“Falling? I’m falling now?!” Joseph said loudly, “Can’t this day get any worse?!”   
Joseph then felt tiny pints of liquid land on him from below, he glances below, and sees blood landing on his clothing! He also spots a dark, ominous figure from way below, in the same place where the blood is being dropped from.   
“Wow, look at that asshole!” Joseph complained, loudly “What right does he think? Spilling some fuckin’ blood, who does he think he is?!”   
Joseph began to dive down, rushing toward the figure!   
Once he finally approaches him, he notices that the figure wasn’t just any person... 

It was a man, but it’s entire skin was just human fiber, but it was all but human.   
Teeth, nothing but teeth ripped apart its lips and filled the 18 inched slits on his lips.  
From its regular mouth to both its ears, but nothing but sharp, grotesque teeth.  
It had dark, black eyes, but bright blue irises.  
Their feet were hands, and additions legs were placed on their hip. 

“W-What the fuck?!” Joseph cried, “What kind of godforsaken birth defect are you?!”   
The thing swam through the air to approach Joseph, it grabs Josephs’ shoulders, and screeches into his face! Saliva and blood land on Josephs’ face, the creature pushes Joseph away and dives down.   
Joseph wipes the blood and saliva off his face, and stomps his foot on a non-existent ground, “Fuckin’ asshole!! I’ll show this dick weed who he’s messing with!!”   
He dives down in pursuit of the strange creature. Once near it, Joseph latches onto its stomach, messing with its speed and momentum.   
The creature screeches uncontrollably, and slaps, hits and spits on Joseph.   
“Stop having a temper-tantrum, you Neanderthal!” Joseph yells, he slaps the creature repeatedly on the face before it finally stops screeching. 

“Finally! I got you to shut your mouth! Now, can you talk? Can you speak English? Or Spanish? I’m fluent in both, so pick your choice, puto.”   
The creature throws up a ball of saliva, it’s quickly picked up by the air and dissolved into nothing.   
“Y-yeah!” It responded with a scratchy voice.   
“Damn! What’s wrong with your voice? You sound like the homeless crackheads next to the farmers market!” Joseph chuckles loudly, then let’s go of the creatures’ stomachs, and puts him into a headlock.   
“I didn’t tell you to stop talking either! Spill it - where am I, what is this place, and where are my pals? I was just at Santa Maria before I landed in this hell!”  
The creature spits out some saliva and began to speak again.   
“I’ll tell you... until you get me outta this headlock, dickface!” It gut punches Joseph, Joseph immediately let’s go and holds onto his stomach.  
“AGGH! Asshole... just who do you think you are?!” Joseph asked in agitation

“I’m the asshole?” Questioned the creature irritably, “You’re the asswipe for trying to put me into a headlock, haven’t you learned manners? Or are you just retarded?!”   
“Retarded?!” Joseph yelled out, “You’re calling me retarded?! At least I wasn’t screeching like a fuckin’ spaz!”   
“Oh, just Shuddup! You’re makin’ my head friggin’ hurt!” Complained the creature  
“Whatever, asshole!” Joseph blurted out, they both turn their backs away from each other and cross their arms.   
There was nothing but silence for at least 2 solid seconds.   
“Well?” Joseph said out loud, “Isn’t there an explanation to this? Or did you just land here as I did?”   
“I was literally born here, wetback. And lucky for you, I do have an explanation for you. But, I won’t tell unless you’re under one condition.”   
Joseph puts his palm to his face and sighs, “What are the conditions?” He said with a slight tone of irritation.   
“Apologise!” The creature demanded.  
Joseph looked at them with impatience.  
“Apologise?! Apologize for what? ‘Bout how fugly you are?!”   
“Apologise for being an asshole, asshole!” The creature demanded.   
”Fine!” shouts Joseph, “I’m sorry! Now stop acting like a pansy, and tell me how I get here, and why I’m here!”   
The creature swam in the air near Joseph and slaps him. A red, bloody handprint is left on Josephs’ cheek.  
“There! That’s for slapping me like a damn toddler!” The creature strokes its head and adjusts itself to be in a sitting position whilst in the air, with it crossing its legs.   
“Where we are, is your mind. Which, if you haven’t noticed, is pretty empty.” The creature giggled, “And I somehow represent you, which is a huge ball-kicker, knowing that I’m supposed to be representing some asshole kids’ ‘traits’ or ‘aspirations’.”   
Joseph tries to contain himself from cursing out the ‘representation’ of himself.   
“And the only reason why you’re here is that you died, congratulations on dying, stupid. Anyways, you’ve been given a second chance from the ‘big man in the clouds.’”  
“God?” Asked Joseph, “God gave me a second chance?” Joseph was astonished that he’s been given the attention of God!  
“Nah I’m just fucking with you.” The creature chuckled, “I dunno why you were given a second chance. Honestly, if I were god, I wouldn’t even give you a short glance!”   
The creature laughed hysterically, while Joseph grits his teeth.   
“And before you ask, yes, you can leave from this empty, endless void that is your mind. Just take a dive to the left, and you’ll find yourself back at Santa Maria.”   
Joseph looks at the creature skeptically.   
“How do I know you’re not tryin’ to kill me?” Joseph asked in suspicion.  
“Bro,” Sighed the creature, “I’m you, and you’re me. Why would I kill me?”   
Joseph exhales sharply, “Yeah, whatever, ‘super freak’.” He chuckles to himself whilst diving to the left, like how the creature told him to. 

“Heh, ‘Super Freak’, heh, heh.” Joseph chuckles more loudly.   
After diving to the left, Joseph began to spiral out of control! His vision became dizzy and foggy.   
“Holy fuckin’ shit...” Joseph stammered, “I feel like I’m on, 27 different drugs right now. Shit, I haven’t even tried drugs before, the fuck am I saying?”   
Joseph lost consciousness and suddenly wakes up back at Santa Maria.   
He felt around his face, the boot pattern that stained his face was gone, and he wasn’t a bloody mess.  
He stood up straight, and saw both Manzana and Mary, alive and standing! They both had ghost-like figures that lingered and hovered near them.   
From behind Joseph, a crack in the floor appeared, the crack opened up into a medium-sized hole, two arms came out from the hole, and lift whoever was below up.   
The human-fiber skinned creature came out of the hole on all fours, it opened its mouth to reveal a 20-inch long tongue that swayed back n’ forth.   
“Ew! That’s fuckin gross, ‘Super Freak’, put that shit back!” Joseph complained   
Joseph turned to look back at Mary and Manzana, they were both looking at him, as well was Fernando! His face looked nervous and was soaked in sweat.   
“Hey, hey, hey! Lookie here! Looks like I got myself a power like yours, huh, Fernando?” Taunted Joseph   
Fernando sweat profusely, his glance quickly and rapidly changed between Manzana, Mary, and Joseph.   
“No...” Fernando stammered, “How’d you get those? It shouldn’t have been possible!”  
Fernando dashed to the nearest exit, leaving some citizens to be snapped out of their mind control.   
“Hey!” shouts Joseph, “You’re not getting away so easily! Hey, ‘Super Freak’, do some freaky shit already!”   
Josephs’ Manifestation, ‘Super Freak’, digs their hands to the ground, the ground itself began to shake toward Fernandos’ direction, Super Freak began yelling and shouting maniacally, and Josephs’ head began to ache.   
“Aw! You’re damn screaming’s givin’ me a friggin’ migraine!” He complained but he notices that Fernandos’ movements became slower and unsteady.   
Fernando hyperventilates as he wearily jogged, “My...My lungs feel as though they’ve been pierced!” Fernando says weakly, “My feet feel sore, and my legs feel like they’re gonna collapse!”   
Fernandos’ hands were shaking, and his mouth was completely dry.   
His gasps for air became minimal and desperate, “Goddamn! This kid has some kind of ‘fatigue power’! I wasn’t this tired before!”   
Joseph gasped in delight, “Woah, Super Freak! You can make people slower, huh?”   
Super Freak paid no attention to Joseph and kept his hands on the ground. 

Mary watched as her brothers’ new power took effect on Fernando.   
“Alright, Ave Maria! Go heal Manzana’s arm! It looks like he could really use it!”   
Mary pointed her finger at Manzanas’ arm, Ave Maria looked at her, and nodded joyfully.   
It ran toward Manzana, and bit his burnt arm!  
“The hell is this?!” Yelled Manzana, but he felt no pain as if whatever was biting him had no teeth!   
He watched as the saliva of Ave Maria drooled out of their mouth, and soaked his injured arm, though he was grossed out, he watched in astonishment as his arm returned to its healthy state!   
“Hey, my arms back to normal! But I still haven’t had my payback...” Manzana said weighty, as he walked toward Fernando, who was barely at the entrance.   
“Space Oddity! Blast Fernando Venino to oblivion!” Manzana yells in anger, Space Oddity prepares their fist and punches Fernando on the back, leg, and stomach.   
“Huh?” Fernando says in confusion, he feels and touches where Space Oddity had punched him, and felt no pain, “Ha! Your ‘Space Oddity’, doesn’t do shit! Those punches looked hard, but I didn’t feel a thing!” Fernando guffawed, as he weakly jogs toward the entrance.   
As Fernando was jogging, he began not to feel the ground below him, as if he were walking on nothing, Fernando looked down, to see that he’s slowly floating upward!   
“The hell?! Why am I floating?! The fuck’s happening!?” Fernando wailed   
Manzana walked toward Fernando again, staring at him with a smug look, “En Serio? You’d really think that my ‘power’ would be nothing? I’ve only had Space Oddity for a few moments, hell, even a few seconds. But, just by looking at it, I can already guess Space Odditys’ power.”   
Fernando looked at Manzana with overwhelming confusion, sweat-soaked his face and clothing while he was slowly floating up in the air.   
“My guess is that Space Oddity can make things weightless by punching them, what you’re experiencing right now, Fernando Venino, is absolute zero gravity!”   
Fernando gags on his saliva, as his mouth becomes dryer and his breath becoming foul and warm.   
“I’ll be keeping that promise, to beat you to oblivion.” Manzana points at Fernando with Space Oddity by his side, prepared to do whatever Manzana commands, “Beat him to oblivion!” Manzana finally shouts.   
Space Oddity hits Fernando in the face with quick haste, not leaving Fernando enough time to even react, blood began slowly dripping out of Fernandos’ face, and onto the ground, creating a large puddle below.   
Space Oddity hits Fernando in the face over 50 times in a single minute, Space Oddity stops for a moment, and prepares another punch, Fernando, who’s suspended in air, along with blood that Space Oddity had hit, watches, as his life comes to an end. Space Oddity finally uppercuts Fernando under the jaw, that sends him flying to space at 2,193.1 miles per hour, it was all a quick flash, but in under a second, Fernando was nowhere to be seen. 

Manzana looks up at the sky, then at the ground, he sharply exhales, and sits down on the ground, Space Oddity fades out of sight, and Manzana wipes the sweat on his forehead whilst watching Joseph and Mary run toward him.   
“Hooooooooooooooooooly Shit, ‘Zana! That was some shit, huh? You were like, boom, pow, and Fernando was like ‘Oh no! Don’t hurt me!’” Joseph said all too quickly and obnoxiously, and his incoherent ramblings faded away, as he marched toward the entrance.   
Mary sighs in annoyance, and glances at Manzana, “Say, that’s a pretty nifty ‘power’ you’ve got there, you called it ‘Space Oddity’, right? And it’s power is to make anything it punches weightless?”   
Manzana looks at her, and nods, “At least, that’s what I think. I don’t know what other things Space Oddity can do.”   
Mary glances at Joseph, who’s still rambling to himself, and looks back at Manzana, “When you got that ‘power’, did you happen to be in a white room? A room with your ‘power’ and possibly referred to themselves as a ‘manifestation of your mentality’?” Asked Mary   
Manzana looked at her somewhat worryingly, but quickly changed to a calm expression, “Yes, Space Oddity called themselves a ‘manifestation’ of me, and that the sugar skull mask that they wear somehow is linked to me.” Manzana sighs, “Space Oddity had also told me that someone far wiser would tell us more about what they are, or what these ‘Manifests’ are, but it was pretty vague.”   
“Hey!!” Yelled Joseph from afar, “Hey! Look what I found! A note fell out of Fernandos’ pocket while you were pummelling him!”   
Mary sighed, “Well, how do you even know what it was from Fernandos’ pocket?” She yelled back.  
“First off, it’s almost covered in blood and sweat, it smells funky, and it says ‘Fernando Venino’ on it!” He yelled back  
Mary groans, and walked toward Joseph. Manzana does the same and walks with her to Joseph.   
Once they got there, Joseph hands them the note in anticipation, “Come on! There’s some red stamp covering the flap, thingy on the envelope, Fernando must’ve not opened it yet!”   
Mary rolls her eyes at Joseph, and looks at the red stamp, it has two letters, ‘I.P’, She feels the stamp off and opens the envelope, where she finds a small note inside, the three of them huddle around and begin reading, it reads:

“If you’re reading this, then that means you must be Manzana Tahara. That also means that you’ve defeated, or killed Fernando Venino, the man who had the Manifest, or power, to control the weak-minded. I have something for you, Sir Tahara, and that is something that you’ve lost 5 years ago, on a cold, quiet night on October 31st, 2020, near a colored arched structure, and a sudden gust of wind.”

Manzana was filled with anger as he read that, but continued 

“And now that you have received the Manifestation of your Mentality, you have the chance to retrieve what you lost 5 years ago, but it may cost your life. Meet me at Cancún, Mexico, where you and I can duel with our own Manifests.   
But, remember something, Manzana Tahara.   
You. Will. Not. Win.

~Sincerely, I.P” 

Tears began to well up in Manzanas’ eyes, but he held back, he crumpled up the paper and shoved it down his pocket.   
“Hey! I wasn’t done reading!” Joseph complained, but his complaint was quickly ignored.   
“What you lost 5 years ago? What do they mean by that?” Asked Mary  
Manzana turns his hand into a fist, and grits his teeth, “My brother, it has my brother.” Manzana said, angrily.   
“Your brother?” Asked Joseph, “When did you have a brother?” 

Manzana looked at Joseph sternly and began to explain, “5 years ago, on October 31st. My brother, Karlo Tahara, and I were out late at night, looking for some ‘adventure’, where we came across an arched canyon, with various colors representing ‘ghosts’ that gave people special powers. My brother decided to disrespect the token of respect to the ‘ghosts’, and because of that, some...’ thing’ took him. And that’s all I can remember from that night.” 

Manzana looked down sombrely, but quickly but his face straight, and changed his expression to a determined one, “For the longest time, I thought my brother was dead. But, whoever wrote this note must’ve been the one who took Karlo, and I’m going after him.”   
Joseph grabs Manzana by the shoulder, stopping him before he could start walking, “Hey, hey! How’d you know this guy’s legit? It could just be some asshole, like Fernando himself writing the note!”   
“How would ‘I.P’ know that Karlo was taken near the decorative arched canyon? Hell, the local media who covered his disappearance didn’t know where he disappeared, nonetheless the fact that there was a sudden gust of wind, seconds before whatever took Karlo and ran off!” Said Manzana, with a slight tone of irritation and agitation.   
Joseph stopped talking for a moment to think, and finally spoke, “I’ll come with you, ‘Zana, in helpin’ you find your bro.”   
Mary looked at him, flabbergasted, “What do you mean, Joseph?! You’re stupid, but not that stupid to go with Manzana to Cancún, to meet some guy or person who probably doesn’t even exist!” Pleaded Mary  
“But Mary, there’s a chance, Hermana, if you were kidnapped, and was given a strange note about your whereabouts, I would’ve come walking barefoot to find you, even if it might be ‘illegitimate’ or whatever fancy words you guys’ say.”   
Mary glanced at Manzana, who was giving her a stern, but somber look, “I won’t beg you to come with us, Mary. But your power of healing could help us a great ordeal, seeing that whoever ‘I.P’ is might be sending more people like Fernando to kill us if ‘I.P’ is real, and the perpetrator.”   
Mary glances down to think, then looks back at Manzana, “Fine, I’ll come with you. Only halfway, to see if ‘I.P’ does send more people like Fernando to come after us, and possibly delay us. If not, then I’m backing out.”  
Manzana smiles at her, but he quickly changes to something more default, “Good, thank you, Mary. You’ll be doing me a great service by coming along.”   
Mary smiles at him, “Sure, sure. But don’t get your hopes up. Say, if we’re going to Cancún, then where do we go first to get there? And what’s the exact location and directions?”  
Joseph exhales sharply, “Damn it, we should really pack up before going on this ‘field trip’.”   
“Sure,” Said Manzana, “We could meet at my house around Dawn, and then we could start heading out after we show off our supplies.”   
“Sounds good, but first, let me and Joseph call the firefighters and paramedics.” Sighed Mary.   
Citizens start waking up from their mind control, some of them slightly bleeding, and some extremely injured, not to mention the fire from the outdoor bar still being lit up.   
“Sure, got it. See you guys’ tomorrow.” Says Manzana, as he walks out of Santa Maria.   
Joseph and Mary wave at him and begin to call 911. 

Once Manzana gets back home, he finds his father, still sleeping out on the porch. He sighs impatiently and goes inside the house.   
“Don’t worry, Karlo. I’ll save you from whatever took you. And Dad, I know that you’ve never been around much when I was 10, and almost never home, or sleeping all day, even more after Karlo had disappeared. But I hope you don’t worry about me, even if it seems like you don’t care for me, dad. I love you.” Manzana thought to himself, as he dressed into comfortable clothes, laid in bed, and rested till the next day.


	5. Bloody Sunday

6:01 a.m  
Manzana is suddenly woken up from the loud the beeping from his Westclox Digital Alarm clock, he lazily shuts it off and gets up from the bed.  
He goes into the bathroom, brushes his teeth, showers, and finally puts on some clothes.  
He puts on a white Lisa and a dark red fingertip coat over it. Not to give off a delinquent look, he puts on black, skinny jeans and black, polished dress shoes.  
Manzana gets out of the bathroom and makes his way to the door when he’s suddenly stopped.  
“Ay, Hijo.” His father said, half-asleep on his brown, couch chair, “Where you’re goin’?”  
Manzana began to sweat a little, he quickly wiped it off and kept his cool, “Just going to meet my friends’ dad. By the way, aren’t you supposed to be at work, or something?” He asked  
“Nah, niño, It’s my day off today,” His father chuckled, “Well, don’t let me keep you from seeing your friends. Have fun, Hijo.” His father quickly drifts off to sleep before watching Manzana leave.  
Manzana sighs, and heads outside his house. Manzana opens the door, steps outside, and closes it behind him, he finds both Mary and Joseph waiting for him on his porch. 

Mary, now wearing a squared-patterned poncho with a light red and black color combo, black hiking pants and ash, grey hiking boots, sits on a chair in the porch with her head sitting on top of her palm, watching Joseph mess around with his ‘Manifest’, ‘Super Freak’.  
Mary glances at Manzana, and stands up from the chair, “Take a look on what Joseph decided to wear on this field trip..” groaned Mary.  
Manzana looks at Joseph's clothes and sees that he’s wearing a full zoot suit, even including a tacky fedora and pocket chain.  
Joseph looks back, and stands up, facing Manzana and Mary.  
“Hey! Look what I’m wearing! I got it from my dads’ closet, he said he wore it a long time ago when he was in a ‘gang’ or something.” Joseph explained, excitedly  
Manzana walks up toward Joseph, facing him and making direct eye contact with Joseph, and puts his hands on Josephs’ shoulders. After a few seconds of just staring at each other, Manzana takes one of his hands, grabs the fedora on Josephs’ head, and throws it like a frisbee toward nothing.  
Joseph looks at Manzana, infuriated, “Y’know, ‘Zana, you could’ve just said that you didn’t like the hat, assface.”  
Mary sighs, “Joseph, don’t get worked up over some hat, now, let’s show what we brought along with us since you and I didn’t get the chance to do it back at home.”  
Josephs walks down the stairs connected to the porch, and grabs two duffle-bags that were sitting at the bottom of the stairs, Joseph goes back up to the porch, and throws the both of them onto the platform, and unzips one of them.  
“Alright, this one’s my bag. I packed chips, cereal, bowls, spoons, milk, disposable toothbrushes, toothpaste-“ Joseph is suddenly interrupted by Marys’ obnoxiously loud groan.  
“Joseph, you were supposed to bring important stuff! Not miscellaneous trash!”  
“This isn’t miscellaneous trash! It’s an essential need! Do you wanna starve, sis? With no breakfast, or have your mouth feel like spoiled milk all the time?”  
Mary thought for a bit, but still scolded Joseph, “Still, you should’ve brought more important things, like me.” Mary said in a confident demeanor, she opened up the other duffel bag, that revealed 20 water bottles, 4799.27 Mexican pesos (250 US Dollars), foldable tent, and a large smartphone. 

“Gee sis, real important stuff, huh?” Joseph said sarcastically  
“More important than whatever trash you brought!” Mary shouted back, she sighs, and glances at Manzana, “Well? What’d you bring?” She asked  
Manzana shrugged, “I dunno. I didn’t really have this kind of prep-time.”  
Mary sighed again, “Well, can you at least pack some money, pillows, and blankets? I don’t want this foldable tent to go to waste.”  
Manzana nods, and hastily goes back into his house, he can hear the indistinct arguing of both Mary and Joseph from outside.  
He finds his dad, still asleep, Manzana sighs in relief, and quickly grabs a backpack, stuff his blankets and pillows into the pack, and shoves in 959.85 pesos (50 US dollars) into his pocket.  
Manzana quickly, but quietly passes his sleeping dad, and heads outside.  
Once outside, Manzana finds Joseph trying to hurt himself with a stick.  
“So if I cut myself, or something cuts me. Could your ‘power’ heal me again?” Joseph asked, Mary nodded happily.  
“Alright, if that’s the case!” Joseph scraps his arm wit the stick, he mildly scratches it, and only small amounts of blood leaked out, but to Joseph, it was worse than hell.  
“God... Damn it! Heal me, already Mary! I can’t stand it!” Whined Joseph.  
Mary looked at his scratch and shook her head, “Sorry, Joseph. But the cut isn’t that severe. I’d be putting my ‘powers’ to waste.” She said playfully  
Joseph looks at her, desperately and on the verge of tears, “C’mon sis! The pain’s unbearable, man!”  
Manzana clears his throat, and both of them glance at him.  
“Are we gonna head off? Or are we just gonna mess around?” He said with mild agitation to his voice.  
“Sure, sure... we’ll...go.” Sniffed Joseph, trying to conceal his tears.  
Mary sighed, and Ave Maria suddenly came out of Marys’ back, and sprinted toward Joseph, biting onto his wound.  
“Woah! Holy shit!” Exclaimed Joseph.  
The saliva drooled out of Ave Marias’ mouth, and covered Josephs’ scratch, instantly healing it.  
Ave Maria dissolved out of sight, Joseph glanced at his scratch, it was fully healed, and the pain was gone.  
“Hey! You really healed me!” Joseph said joyfully, “I knew you weren’t cold-hearted, sis! But please figure out how to heal without having that ‘thing’, or Ave Maria biting people like a toothless pit bull.”  
Mary rolls her eyes, and transitions it into a stare toward Manzana, “Yeah, we’ll start heading out. According to the directions on my phone...” Mary grabs out the smartphone from her bag,  
“First, we’ll need to get past the city of Los Diablos, then we’ll enter Phoenix, Arizona, next we’ll pass by Nuevo Mexico and finally enter Mexico where Cancún will be at.” Explained Mary  
Joseph looks at Mary, confused, “Hey, Mar. Why is it that down south is ‘Mexico’ while we’re just ‘Mexica’?” Asked Joseph  
Mary cleared her throat, preparing for a small history lesson, 

“Over here, we’re called ‘Mexica’, because it was to mock the Americans’ for losing the ‘Mexican-American’ war. And the result of the war leads to Mexico reclaiming California, Utah, Texas, Nevada, Arizona and West Colorado.”  
After giving the short lesson, Mary finds Joseph just spacing out, picking his earwax, “huh?” Joseph said dumbfounded.  
Mary groans loudly, and closes her eyes whilst rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Joseph, don’t ask for historical context for a name if you don’t care!” She scolded  
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t make them so boring” Joseph fired back.  
Mary was getting ready to yell at Joseph before Manzana stops them.  
“Come on, let’s not waste time. We’d have to get to ‘Los Diablos’ before sunset.”  
Mary nods, and zips up her duffel bag, and puts the strap over her shoulder, she turns toward Joseph and motions him to get his bag.  
“If we’re gonna go already,” Joseph said, as he’s putting his duffel bag behind him, “We should at least get a cab. To not have feet blisters so early, y’know?”  
Mary smiled, “Wow, Joseph! That’s probably the only good idea you’ve ever had!”  
Joseph puts up the OK hand gesture toward Mary, but she just shrugs it off, “You know, that’d be offensive to Brazilians..” Joseph groaned  
The three of them begin walking to the nearest public place,  
‘Orcutt’, the nearest public place, the group couldn’t have gone back to Santa Maria because of the reconstruction of some buildings that were taking place.  
Once arriving at Orcutt, Mary dialed the nearest Taxi service.  
“I’ve been here before, and know some of the cab drivers, he’ll be here in a second, and we’ll finally be on our way to ‘Los Diablos’” Explained Mary. 

The trio stood near a curb by a traffic light and awaited for their taxi to arrive.  
“Hey, ‘Zana.” Peeped Joseph, “Y’know how we have this ‘manifests’ now? And like, we can summon them, or whatever, whenever we want?”  
Manzana nods. Joseph continues, “So they’re like, spirits? Or like ghosts?”  
Manzana looked at him, confused, “No? I don’t think so, at least. Why’re you asking that?” Asked Manzana  
“Because this all feels too surreal, you know? Like, I’ve seen this type of situation before. Like, I feel like the situation of a group of people having these ghost powers, I know I’ve seen this before in some sort of media!” Joseph stomped his foot, angrily, “Damn it! I’ve seen this kind of thing before! I dunno whether it was from some comic book or game, but it’s freaking me the hell out!”  
Mary turned toward Joseph, and shushed him, “Our taxi’s here! Don’t act like a buffoon, Joseph!” She scolded, Joseph mocked her under his breath.  
The three of them entered the cab, Mary paid the taxi driver to take them to Los Diablos, and they were on their way.  
The car ride would’ve taken at least 25-30 minutes, but it felt like hours.  
The hot, humid and steamy air didn’t make anything better, neither did the lukewarm, barely functioning air conditioner that was implemented into the taxi.  
Joseph looked over at Mary, and saw her sweat intensely, even sweating more than both him and Manzana, “H-hey, sis?” He huffed out, “You should take off that poncho, you’ll get a heat stroke or something.”  
Joseph grabbed Marys’ arm, but she quickly jerked her arm away.  
“No way, I knitted this poncho, I’m planning on wearing it for the rest of the day. Besides, Los Diablos is colder during this kind of weather.” 

Once they’ve finally reached Los Diablos, the group sighed in relief.  
They got out of the taxi and waved the driver goodbye.  
Manzana scratched the back of his head while he watched the driver leave.  
“That driver was giving me a bad vibe.” Manzana said in a concerned tone, “I felt like he also had a ‘Manifest’.”  
Joseph playfully punches Manzana on the shoulder, “No worries, man! Every taxi driver gives off a bad vibe, also I’m kinda hoping that we do get attacked, so Mary would know that this ‘I.P’ guy is legit.”  
Mary takes her phone out, and opens up Google Maps, “Okay, says here that the fastest route is to keep walking west, toward Riverside. But we’d have to get through Los Diablos tourist attractions and cities.”  
Joseph groans loudly, “I hate Los Diablos’ attractions. They’re all just tiny versions of foreign countries!” 

Los Diablos, the sister city to Los Angeles.  
After Los Angeles became a ghost town in 2010, Los Diablos was made to be a superior city to Los Angeles.  
The city has many major flee markets, towns, and attractions.  
The most notable and famous attractions in Los Diablos is, ‘Little Japan’, ‘Tiny England’, and ‘Mini-France’.  
In the real world, Los Diablos would be north of Los Angeles, taking the place of Burbank to Pomona. 

“Well, I guess we’d have to power through, Joseph. Besides, we were lucky enough to be dropped off near ‘Mini-France’, just a few miles away from ‘Riverside’, we could maybe call a different type of taxi, but for now, Joseph. We need to get through Mini-France.  
Joseph sighs in frustration, “Fine, can we get something to eat first? My stomach won’t stop rumbling.”  
Mary rolls her eyes, “Really? Didn’t you eat breakfast?”  
Joseph shook his head from left to right.  
Mary puts her palm to her face, and slowly lowers it, “Dang it, Joseph. Fine, eat one of your chip bags you brought.”  
Josephs’ face lit up, “Oh yeah! I’ll just eat my chips!”  
Joseph unzipped his bag, and took out one of the chip bags, and stared at the brand.  
“Wait a minute!” Shouts Joseph, “These aren’t my favorite type of chips! These are dill pickle-flavored potato chips! I could’ve sworn I’ve packed BBQ flavor!”  
Mary rolled her eyes once more, “Does it matter? Just eat them, Joseph. We don’t have any time to waste.”  
Joseph looked at Mary wildly, “Eat them?! You want me to eat dill pickled potato chips?! You’re crazy!” Yelled Joseph, he grabbed two more bags of potato chips, to find that they were also dill pickle-flavored!  
“Really?! What a piece of shit!” Joseph said, has he held the three bags of chips and began walking.  
“Wait, where’re you going, Joseph?” Asked Mary, worryingly.  
“We’re at ‘Mini-France’, right? Then there’s gotta be some water under a bridge, right?” Asked Joseph  
Manzana began to worry, “Mary, you’d better stop him before he does anything irrational.”  
Joseph spots a bridge with water below it, and rushed toward it, “Goodbye, garbage chips!” He shouts in glee.  
“Wait, Joseph, don’t!” Yelled Mary, but it was too late. Joseph had thrown the bags of chips under the bridge and onto the water! They sank out of sight and flowed with the water.  
Mary groaned, “Joseph, you idiot! It didn’t matter if it was dill pickle flavor, we could’ve eaten them! Heck, I love dill pickle-flavored chips! You just threw away what food we could’ve had! Don’t you think before you do anything?!”  
Joseph looked at her and shrugged nonchalantly.  
Mary groans loudly, “Dang it, you’re lucky that you’re my brother, Joseph Siant! Or else, I would’ve killed you on the spot!” She yelled.  
The people nearby began to stare at Mary and Joseph and whispered among each other.  
Manzana walked up to the both of them, and cleared his throat, “Mary, you’re making a scene.”  
Mary glances around, to see groups of people of all ages, watching them awkwardly, she nervously giggles, and pats Josephs’ shoulder, “Let’s go buy you some food, brother.” She said with a fake smile.  
They began to walk aimlessly, until they’ve finally reached a bakery, the sign above it read “Dahl’s.”  
Joseph looks at the sign, then at the bakery, it had an outdoor and indoor eating area, large and tall umbrellas shaded the outdoor area from the sun.  
There were glass windows on the walls, allowing customers from the indoor area to be able to see outdoors.  
Joseph could see the menu clearly, it read, 

“ ‘BFG’ - 574.60 pesos. 3-foot vanilla gelato with small chocolate chip whip cream.  
‘Chocolate Factory’ - 957.79 pesos. A 5-foot chocolate gelato with hot fudge, blueberries, and small chocolate chips.  
‘Two Fables’ - 382.97 pesos. A half strawberry red velvet and half dark chocolate gelato.” 

Those were the food choices that Joseph had read before his attention slowly drifted off to a car collision nearby.  
Mary sighed in frustration, and looked at Joseph, “Alright, bro. We’re going to go inside that bakery, and you’re going to choose the cheapest option. Because looking at the menu from here, it seems too pricey.”  
Manzana shook his head, and handed Mary his money, “Here, Mary. This should cover whatever Joseph might get.”  
Mary nods her head, took Joseph by the arm, and walked inside the bakery with him.  
“With those two, I’m expecting that this’ll take long.” Sighed Manzana, he walks toward the outdoor eating area and took a seat at one of the tables.  
A sudden drool of blood leaked out of Manzanas’ mouth, he quickly wipes it off, and continued to wait for Mary and Joseph, he puts his head down and almost drifts to sleep, until he hears a sudden sound of a man clearing his throat. 

Manzana looks up to see a teenage boy sitting across from him, he has an 80’s David Bowie haircut, but the only difference is that the boy has dark, red hair.  
He wears an ankle-length white, windbreaker coat, and a white, cuffed sleeve dip with black pinstripes under the windbreaker. He also is wearing white, black skinny jeans with an unadjusted, black leather Tayla belt and old, tattered dress shoes. 

The boy grabs a cup of coffee that was sitting on the ground, it seems to still be hot with smoke irradiating from it, then the boy sips the hot coffee and looks at Manzana.  
“Hello.” He says casually, “My name is Spencer ‘Caesar’ Guadalupe. But, you can just call me Caesar. I just turned 15 today, and I was born in Liverpool, England. I was born in an orphanage, I was given love and attention from ‘Mums’ and Nuns working at the orphanage. But, at the age of 13, I was thrown out, not for anything bad, trust me. I was going through a phase at the time and happened to accidentally push a kid off the highest part of a tree. But, it was all by accident, I hadn’t meant to push him, you do, believe me, right?” Caesar said, persistently.  
Manzana stared at him awkwardly, “Why’re you telling me this?” He asked.  
Caesar ignored what Manzana had asked, and continued,  
“I’m just going to assume that you do. You see, since I was little, maybe about 5 or 6, I’ve had this... ‘supernatural’ ability. An ability to control ones’ blood.”  
Manzana quickly stood up from his chair and began to slowly walk backward.  
“You see, Manzana Tahara. This ‘power’ had been a real fucking burden, I haven’t been able to control it, instead, it controls me. So I beg you, Tahara. Please, be the one to end my life.”  
Blood began to drool out of Manzanas’ fingernails, they quickly dripped down, creating an unnaturally large puddle.  
The blood didn’t spread out or even enlarge by a bit from the dripping of the blood, it was just left unchanged.  
A sudden ripple in the center of the puddle appeared, as if something were vibrating it, Manzana glanced back and forth between the puddle and Caesar.  
The blood puddle began to gravitate upward as if it were dripping in reverse. A pint of blood hit Manzana on the cheek, he rubbed it off, only to meet another drop of blood.  
The puddle suddenly manifested a hand, Manzana gasped sharply and backed away quickly, but the hand grew longer, unnatural long.  
Once the hand approached Manzana’s face, it merely stuck its’ hand out. Manzana suddenly felt an odd sensation of liquids going down his face, he felt around his cheeks to meet cold blood, slowly drooling from his eyes.  
The blood from his eyes began to gravitate toward the bloody hand, they latched onto each other like a bridge.  
Manzana tried to slap the hand, but nothing happened, Manzana began to breathe heavily, he could almost see his own breath like as if it were steam.  
“I... I slapped that hand, but it was almost like I just went through it!” Manzana thought to himself, “Can I not do anything to stop whatever it’s doing to me? Just because it’s in some type of liquid form?”  
Just then, Manzana had realized something, “Wait a minute. If it’s a liquid, then I can use my Space Oddity to cause the liquid to gravitate toward the sky!”  
Manzana tried to calm himself and tried to bring Space Oddity into a physical form. But, no matter how much he tried, only small fragments of Space Oddity would appear, like their head or torso, Manzana couldn’t manifest it fully.  
“The hell?!” He thought, “Why can’t I make Space Oddity appear?”  
“You’re experiencing a lot of stress, aren’t you, Manzana Tahara?” Spoke Caesar.  
Manzana turned toward him in an instant and glared at him nervously.  
“Your blood just suddenly accelerated, and your heart is beating much faster. How’d I know this? You may ask. But, it’s nothing too complicated, just an ability I like to call ‘Blood Reading’, where I can know what my opponent is feeling, and even what their ability can do!” Laughed Caesar  
Manzana began to sweat, he quickly changes his expression to calm one, he glares at Caesar intensely, “So, Caesar Guadalupe, you’re another one of ‘I.P’s goons?”  
Caesar chuckled, “Man, aren’t you a tall glass of water?” Suddenly, his eyes turned to a crimson red, and he spoke in a deeper voice, “It’s not Caesar, but I. His ‘manifestation’. I call myself, ‘Bloody Sunday’!”


	6. Bloody Sunday Part 2

Manzana began to breathe heavily as he watched Caesar hold his blood as if it were paper, and reading it aloud.  
“You’ve named your ‘Manifest’ Space Oddity, Huh? Its ability is to make anything it touches instantly weightless, and gravitate toward the sky. It also seems like you don’t know what it can do to the fullest” Caesar chuckled in the same growly, low voice,  
“My, my. Your Space Oddity has so much potential, but its owner lacks such an understanding of what their power can fully do.” Caesar said in a mocking tone, “This is why I was able to temporarily put Space Oddity out of commission. For you don’t know how to keep yourself calm and keep a clear head, your own stress made you unable to use Space Oddity, and that’s exactly what I strive on!” Laughed Caesar, “See, when people see blood, what do they feel mostly? Fear? Uneasiness? Maybe even nauseous or lightheadedness? Maybe because of Haemophobia? It’s these core things that make me so powerful, not only the fact that I can manipulate blood itself. But, Caesar over here has an extreme fear of blood.” Scoffed Caesar  
“That’s right.” Manzana huffed out, “You’re not really ‘Caesar Guadalupe’ you’re Bloody Sunday, his manifest, right?” Manzana glanced at Caesar, staring at him coldly, “Tell me, how is it that you, a Manifest, can control a body? Or his body?” Bloody Sunday glanced at Manzanas’ cold gaze, and shut his eyes in different directions, thinking if he should even tell Manzana such a detail.  
Caesar glares back at Manzana and puts up 3 fingers, then 2, then 4, then finally 3 again.  
Blood began to ooze out of Manzana’s eyes, it began to drip down to the ground and create a small puddle, but the blood puddle yanks Manzana down to the ground, as if there were a person below the puddle pulling on Manzana.  
“This is your blood manipulation, Bloody Sunday? Is this how much you can do?” Manzana asked, sternly.  
Bloody Sunday chuckles loudly, “Of course not, you dolt! Do you think I’ll only use my blood manipulation to just trap people?  
Manzana scoffs, “If that’s so, then why don’t you just kill me already? You’ve obviously been sent from I.P to kill me.”  
Caesar looks down on Manzana, and cracks a smile, “Yes, I was maybe bribed by a certain man named ‘I.P’ to hunt and kill three kids. But you, Manzana Tahara, wasn’t what I was expecting. See, I wasn’t expecting you to be so... how do I put it? Endearingly enchanting. Your face, your eyes, even your somewhat calm, but clearly stressed and peeved attitude. It’s somewhat attractive.”  
Manzana glared at him, confused, “What? The hell are you talking about?” 

Suddenly, someone clears their throat from a short distance.  
“Excuse me, are you done complimenting and endangering our friend?” Said Mary, in a stern, cold tone.  
Bloody Sunday glanced up and saw both Mary and Joseph standing near the café door, with Joseph having a little bit of chocolate around his lips.  
“Who’re these dickholes?” Caesar asked brashly  
Joseph snickers, “These ‘dickholes’ are gonna bust your ass!”  
“Damn it! That sounded way better in my head!” Thought Joseph.  
Bloody Sunday scoffs in irritation, “No matter, my ability surpasses all! I’ve obviously come here for a reason, and for that reason, I will fulfill! I, Bloody Sunday, will kill you!”  
Bloody Sunday then manipulates Manzanas’ blood to make up a throne, purely out of his blood. Bloody Sunday then sits himself down on the throne, he then puts both his hands up in the air.  
“Behold, the power of Bloody Sunday!”  
Blood began to ooze and drip out of both Joseph and Marys’ eyes, fingers, mouth, and nose, and began to gravitate toward Bloody Sunday, who was sucking in all the blood into his body, the same with bystanders nearby. 

“Hey! What the fuck?!” Shrieked a woman, “Why’s blood coming out of my pants?!”  
Blood came through the pants of the nearby women except for Mary and came to Bloody Sunday.  
“H-hey! The hell are you doing?!” Yelled Mary.  
Bloody Sunday smiles at her, “I’m taking all the blood I can! It fuels me! It makes me powerful! Invincible, even!” He shouts hysterically.  
Bloody Sundays’ eyeballs became dark with blood, small bits of blood drooled out of his mouth and nose, and blood dropped down from his fingernails.  
“This is enough! Now, be ready to face Bloody Sunday!”  
Joseph wipes the blood from his nose, “Whatever, man! You’re just spouting a bunch of horse shit! Watch this! Super Freak!”  
Super Freak slowly manifested behind Joseph, it’s pitch black eyeballs and dark blue pupils pierced through Bloody Sundays’ soul.  
“You utter fool!” Bloody Sunday shouts, “I could see that your manifest is clearly made out of muscle fiber! I can easily immobilize him!” 

Bloody Sunday puts both his hands up, and puts up 2 fingers with both hands, 3 fingers on the left and 4 fingers on the right, then finally 5 fingers on the left and 1 finger on the right.  
In almost an instant, Super Freak’s legs were roped to the ground via his own blood.  
“Psh! Super Freak doesn’t even need to move to beat you! Do that freaky shit again!” Yelled Joseph  
Super Freak screeches at the sky, then penetrates the ground with its’ fingers, Bloody Sunday feels a sudden sensation of tiredness and intense fatigue, as if he ran 100+ miles.  
“The hell’s that thing doing?!” Huffed Bloody Sunday, he slicks his hair back and rubs his forehead from any sweat, “It doesn’t matter. I can put Super Freak out of commission, I am superior to you!”  
Bloody Sunday puts up 5 fingers with his left hand, then 3, then 2 fingers, and finally 4 fingers.  
In a blink of an eye, all blood fluids that were in Super Freak immediately poured out, leaving the manifest in a pale color, its muscles were also withering and fading away and its bright, blue eyes turning into a gray, cold color.  
It also left the manifest to have unnatural and awkward movements.  
“Damn!” Thought Joseph, “When he fuckin’ drained Super Freaks’ blood, I felt like I was gonna throw up just then!”  
Bloody Sunday coldly state’s at both Super Freak and Joseph, “Why did you even both engaging me? Your manifestation hasn’t matured, nor do you even know its’ fullest power! You’re so weak, this should be considered a mercy kill!” Yelled Bloody Sunday, before clenching his fist.  
Just then, Super Freaks’ legs imploded within themselves.  
“What the hell?!” Yelled Joseph, “You made his friggin’ legs explode!!”  
An abrupt feeling of immense pain suddenly sensationalized within both his legs, as if they were cramping up.  
Joseph kneeled down, and groaned loudly, holding and caressing his legs.  
“Joseph?” Mary said worryingly, “What the heck’s happening with your legs?”  
Joseph quickly glanced at Mary, then back at his leg, “It’s nothing, alright? Just some leg pains.”  
Joseph groaned louder, as his pains grew more and more intense, he gripped onto his legs, hoping that his hand could somehow stop the pain.  
Then, at the moment, Josephs’ legs had imploded similarly to Super Freak.  
“Holy fuckin’ shit!!” Agonized Joseph, he closed his eyes tightly, afraid of seeing his legs completely torn apart and obliterated.  
“J-Joseph!” Cried Mary, she hurried to Joseph and kneeled down over him.  
Super Freak dissolves into dust particles, the wind blows it away toward nothing.  
“Sh..shit, Mary.” Coughed Joseph, “It’s not too bad, right? I’m not that hurt, right?”  
Tears slowly came out of Josephs’ tightly closed eyes, as he grit his teeth and breathed heavily.  
“You can fix me up right away, right? Mary?”  
“Yes.” Mary said with a stern tone, “I’ll have Ave Maria fix you up, but I won’t allow you to fight this asshole! Not right now.”  
Joseph looked at her with an irritated expression, “Fine! Fine. Just please, fix my legs up, I can’t bear it.”  
Ave Maria manifests in front of Mary and instantly began drooling and biting onto Josephs’ destroyed legs.  
Slowly, Josephs’ legs began to be reconstructed due to Ave Marias’ saliva.  
“Manzana! I’ll help you get out of whatever blood trap you’re in! Ave Maria will be healing Joseph!” Said Mary  
She quickly rushes toward Manzana, before being stopped by Bloody Sunday.  
“You thought I would just let you do that? Just let you run to that Tahara boy without me doing anything about it? You’ve got some nerves.” Bloody Sunday angrily glares at Mary, but Ave Maria quickly catches his attention, “Your manifestation, its name’s Ave Maria, right? From the looks of it, and what you were talking about earlier, you can heal people. Not too effectively, at least.” Bloody Sundays’ glare quickly directs back at Mary, but with a wicked smile, “If you can heal, then I’ll have to put you out of commission too!”  
Bloody Sunday latches onto Marys’ neck, and chokes her! He violently shakes her and places his thumb down the center of her throat.  
“Let’s make this decommissioning at little faster, shall we?”  
Bloody Sunday clenches his fist, then puts 1 finger up.  
Mary instantly throws up heavy amounts of blood, almost gagging and drowning her because of Bloody Sundays’ intensely strong grip.  
“Yes, Yes! Choke on your own blood, I want to make this death as torturous a possibly!” Bloody Sunday laughed hysterically with immense glee.  
Manzana watches as Bloody Sunday choke Mary, “Mary!” Manzana yelled out, “Use Ave Maria to defend yourself!”  
Ave Maria kept healing Joseph with its’ saliva, Mary had refused.  
Manzana hit the ground with his fist, “This is just like with Fernando Venino. My friends are being killed, while I’m just being immobilized and helpless. Damn it! I won’t have it happen again! We actually died! I won’t let our second chance at life go to waste!”  
Manzana tried concentrating on having Space Oddity fully manifest, but no matter his efforts, they would not appear. 

“Damn it, Space Oddity! Why won’t you just appear?! Ave Maria and Super Freak appeared when they needed them, why won’t you?!” Manzana thought aloud, “I need to save them, I need to fucking save them!”  
Just then, a single bullet cuts through the blood that was latched onto Manzanas’ eyes.  
“Woah, what the hell?” Thought Manzana, curiously. He looked at the blood that was trapping him, and noticed that it had dried!  
“Dried blood?” He thought, “Had the blood dried? And I hadn’t noticed? If that’s the case, then we fired that bullet just now?”  
Manzana looked up to see Bloody Sunday staring at something, no longer choking Mary.  
Manzana glances at Mary to see her coughing up her blood and caressing her throat.  
Manzana slowly rose up, to see a 30-year-old man, 6 foot 1 and was sporting a cowboy mustache.  
He was wearing a black Horma Sinaloa sombrero on top of his head.  
He had a light blue dress shirt, with a poncho on top, the poncho is short on the chest, but long on his backside, his poncho is dark brown with semi-long white lines patterned over the brown color.  
He also wore clearly worn and tattered dress pants and brown formal shoes.  
He had a big, black leathered belt that was loosely around his pants, on its left side had a single holster.  
On the mans’ right hand, he was holding a Beretta Laramie revolver with an extending barrel and iron sights.  
Smoke irradiating from the mans’ gun, he silently stood there with his hat low, concealing his eyes, he watched them through his straw hat.  
“Now, it isn’t very nice picking on kids, you know?” The man walked closer toward them, he spoke in a strong, Mexican accent “especially if they haven’t even had much experience fighting other people with manifests.”  
Bloody Sunday snickered, “Why do you care, old man? Shouldn’t you be in a nursing home?”  
The mystery man lowered the tip of his hat and sighs, “You best be going, mister. Or this ‘old man’ will have to some basic manners.”  
Something about the mans’ voice seemed oddly familiar to Manzana as if the man was someone he had already knew.  
“Pssh. Basic manners? Yeah, whatever gramps. I could kill you right now, all you have is just a measly little pistol gun.” guffaws Bloody Sunday, “Besides, what makes you think you could take me on? I’ve got a manifest power, while you don’t!”  
The man scoffs, “You shouldn’t belittle people like that. You also shouldn’t assume other people don’t have manifests. Because I can shoot you right now with my ‘measly pistol gun.’ “  
Bloody Sunday smirks and snickers, “Are you implying that you have a manifest? Please, you look like a background character for a western movie. Don’t threaten me if you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, punk.”  
The man scoffs, “Fine then.” He slowly walks toward Bloody Sunday whilst spinning his revolver with his finger, “You’ve just written your death sentence, estúpido.”

Bloody Sunday began to sweat from the back of his head, “What’s this man up to?” He thought as he watched the man walk closer, “He might just be bluffing about having a manifest of his own, but what if he isn’t? If so, can it counter me?”  
The man catches his gun in mid-spin and shoots at the ground.  
Mary and Manzana blankly stare at the man  
Mary turns toward Manzana with a worried expression, “Manzana, let’s leave while Bloody Sunday is distracted!”  
Manzana shakes his head, “No, not yet. I feel like I know this man. Quick, help Joseph so then we can help this man out.”  
Bloody Sunday stared at the man, confused, but then his confusion turned into smugness, “Ha! I knew you were just bullshitting! Time to kill you for threatening me— ME!” he yelled.  
Suddenly, the bullet the man shot at the ground comes out of the ground behind Bloody Sunday, and hits his left leg, “What in the hell?!” Exclaimed Bloody Sunday, he quickly covers the gunshot on his leg to stop the bleeding, and looked behind him to see a small hole on the ground, “What the...” he said quietly, “Was that the bullet? How could that happen? Is this his manifest power?!”  
The man smiles, and adjusts his hat so his eyes are visible, “You might be thinking, ‘Is this his manifest power?’ Well? Am I right?”  
Bloody Sunday offendedly gasps, “How could he have guessed that so accurately?!” He thought to himself.  
While this was happening, Ave Maria had completed reconstructing Josephs’ legs, completely erasing any injury.  
“Holy shit... Hey, sis! Ave Maria finished healing me!” Joseph yells. Marys’ head peaks up her head up and turns her head toward Joseph, “Joseph! Shush!” She said back.  
“My name is Gusto Tahara.” Said the man, “And my manifest power is named ‘You’re Mine.’, it’s power is to ricochet any bullet from any body of surface or liquid. It can even ricochet whilst being underground or underwater.”  
Manzanas’ eyes widened, “Gusto...Tahara?” He stared at the mans’ man, before finally realizing something, “Of course, this mystery man is my father! He’d come to rescue us. But how did he know I was here?”  
Manzana quietly stands up and rushes to Mary.  
“Mary!” He quietly said, “That man’s my dad! My dad came here to help us, but he might be in danger too!”  
“Your dad? That man’s your dad? How can he be in danger, Manzana? I just heard what his power can do, I’m sure he has a chance.” Said Mary in a raspy voice.  
“That might be true, but remember what Bloody Sunday did? He blew off Josephs’ legs, trapped me with blood from my own eyes and nearly killed you with your own blood!”  
Mary shakily caresses her neck with her hand, and glanced at the ground, “You might be right, Manzana. Let’s go get Joseph, he could help your father in hopefully beating Bloody Sunday.”  
Mary stood up, and ran toward Joseph, whose pants were partially ripped apart, was for whatever reason making saliva bubbles with his lips  
“Joseph! Stand up, we need to help Manzanas’ dad!”  
Joseph looked up at Mary, “Manzanas’ dad? What’s he doing here?”  
Mary sighs, “We don’t know yet, just get up!”  
Joseph rolls his eyes at her, “I’m not feeling it right now” he yawned  
Mary bites onto her finger for a quick second, and takes a deep breath, “Joseph, we’re not in need of your childish bullshit, get the fuck up right now.” She said passive-aggressively  
Joseph sighs annoyingly loud before finally deciding to get up.  
“Fuckin’ hell, dude. What’re we doing again? I was slipping in and out of consciousness the whole time.”  
“Since you’re so dense, Joseph, we’ve been struggling to survive against Bloody Sunday, you know, the guy who destroyed your legs?”  
Josephs's eyes widen, his face turns into an angry expression, “Shit, I thought that was some fever dream. Damn it! I’ll beat the shit out of that red-headed weasel!”  
Mary rolls her eyes, then looks toward at both Gusto and Bloody Sunday, “Hey, look, it looks like something’s about to happen!” She said quietly to both Manzana and Joseph.  
Mary finds crates stacked on top of each other near the café, and hustled both Manzana and Joseph to them to hide.

Bloody Sunday began to sweat profusely and breathing heavily, he shivered as he watched Gusto spin his gun again.  
“You’re gonna wish you hadn’t mess with these kids.” Gusto said as he caught his gun at mid-spin.  
Gusto looks up and around the area, he sees the glass window of café, a neon sign that has three X’s, and water below the bridge.  
Gusto smiles, he quickly shoots at the water, neon sign and glass window, they ricochet away from where they were shot at and bounce to the spot where the other bullets ricocheted from and vice versa, they rotated between surface to surface, eventually becoming barely visible because of the rapid speed they were going at.  
Bloody Sunday breathes heavily, watching the bullets rotate from one surface to the other, “What’s he gonna do?” He thought, “What’s he planning?” Gusto began walking slowly toward him, Bloody Sunday exhaled sharply, a small stroke of sweat came down his forehead.  
“Oh yeah, did I mention once the bullet ricochets, I can change its direction from whatever surface it hits? See how the bullets unnatural ricochet one place to another in complete unison? That’s me manipulating the bullet fragments into deflecting from any kind of surfaces.” 

Joseph and Manzana watch them by peeping from the crates while Mary crouches down, thinking of what to do.  
“Holy shit, man.” Joseph said happily in disbelief, “Your dad could fuckin’ kill Bloody Sunday, why do we need to help him?”  
Manzana glances at Joseph, then at his father, “Even if my dad can change the direction of which his bullets go, it doesn’t mean he can kill Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday seems smart, but I don’t know about my father.”  
Mary sighs loudly, she stands up and walks next to Manzana, “That could be true, Zana, but Bloody Sunday only seems smart because he’s going against amateurs like us. See how nervous he’s getting? He probably knows that your dad could be an experienced manifest-user.”  
Mary crouches down again and lightly places her chin on her knuckles, “But, I’m sure his nervousness would die down and suspect something, so we have to strike quick before he realizes that we’ve gone someplace.”  
Joseph sighs through his lips, “How can we strike first? All you can do is heal, Mary, and I dunno what’s Manzana’s deal, but he hadn’t called up his manifest to help out.”  
Manzana bites on the skin of his thumb, then quickly shove his hand into his coat pocket, “My manifest, Space Oddity, is being really difficult to call out, Bloody Sunday said something about me not having a clear mind.”  
Joseph runs his hands through his hair and groans, “OK, so Mary can only heal, and your Space Oddity is being a cunt. Geez Louise, man.”  
Mary stares continuously at both Gusto and Bloody Sunday until something finally clicks.  
“Joseph,” Mary says as shes snapping her fingers, “You can use Super Freak!”  
Joseph blankly glared at her, “Super Freak? Why? All he can do is make people tired, I’m not even sure he can even fight.”  
“That’s what we need! Super Freak needs to make Bloody Sunday tried! See, Super Freak can make people intensely fatigued right? Fatigue can make one feel extremely sleepy but also extremely anxious. If you can make Bloody Sunday more tired, he will become more anxious and nervous!” She whispered to him, joyfully.  
Josephs scratches his nose before exhaling through his teeth, “Fine, fine. I dunno what this ‘fatigue’ shit can do besides make people tried, but I’m counting on your nerdy ass mind to be right.”  
Joseph walks out from the crates, Super Freak manifests behind him, but quickly gets in front of him.  
“Alright, Super Freak.” Joseph says in a half-nervous tone, “Do some freaky shit.”

“Shit..” Thought Bloody Sunday, “Does that mean he could be distracting me by walking toward me, so then he can shoot me again? Or is the bullets the distraction? Wait, is both he and the bullets distractions? So those kids could attack? Or were the kids actually the distractions, and this was the real Tahara I was after? But if that’s the case, then does that mean the kid isn’t Manzana? But he said his name’s Gusto. Was this an elaborate plan to maybe drain me of power? Now I think about it, I’m almost completely drained from the blood I stole. Was this his plan?!” Bloody Sunday exhales loudly, “Why the hell am I so worrisome? I could just use my ability and kill him, it’s as easy as that!”  
Bloody Sunday shakily puts his hands up and struggles to put his fingers up, “Why am I feeling so tired? I feel like I can sleep right now..” He says, drowsily.  
Bloody Sunday turns around to see Super Freak, its legs reformed, penetrating the ground floor with its finger, the ground shook in its general direction, going at 5-7 miles, Bloody Sunday had just noticed that the ground below him was shaking.  
“That little fucking rat!” Bloody Sunday muttered, “I thought I decommissioned that ass!”  
“Hey! Mister Tahara! He’s all tired now! Beat the shit outta that weasel!”  
Bloody Sunday gasped, turned around and was suddenly bonked on the side of the head by the grip of the revolver. He falls over and falls into unconsciousness, blood oozed out of both his ears and nose.  
The 3 bullets ricocheted into the war, Gusto sighs and perks his hat up.  
“Ay Caramba...” Sighed Gusto, he flicks his hat upward and slides his gun into his holster.  
The 3 kids run out from behind the crates and approach Gusto.  
“You know, Mr. Tahara, when I said ‘beat the shit outta him’, I was expectin’ somethin’ cooler,” Joseph said disappointingly, but with a relieved smile.  
Gusto squints at Joseph, piercing through his souls with his half-closed eyes, “Name?” Gusto says lowly  
“Huh?” Joseph blurted out  
“Name, Nombre. Tu Nombre, your name. What is it?” Gusto said more aggressively  
“Oh, um.” Stammered Joseph, “I’m uh, my name’s erm... Joseph Siant, s.. sir.”  
“Siant? Joseph Siant, eh? José Siant..”  
Gusto turns his head toward Mary, Marys’ eyes widen once his gaze landed on her.  
“And you?” Asked Gusto, Mary clears her throat and adjusts her poncho.  
“My name’s Mary Siant, sir. Joseph and I are related.”  
Gusto nods his head slowly and turns his head toward Manzana.  
“And you?” Gusto asked Manzana, “What’s your name, huh?”  
Manzana looks at him, confused, “Dad, you know who I am.”  
Gusto scratches his chin, “Nah, no clue. Also, why’d you call me dad? My son wouldn’t be as ugly as you.”  
Manzana rolls his eyes at him, “Really, dad?”  
Gusto chuckles loudly, “Ah, you know I’m just joking with you, Hijo. Grow a sense of humor, would you?”  
“Geez, Zana’s dad seemed a lot scarier earlier, now he just seems like a goof.” Thought Joseph.

Gusto chuckles again, “The hell are you kids doing all the way out here for?”  
“Hmph, as if you really wanna know, dad,” Manzana responded rudely.  
Gusto scoffs and puts his hand on his head, “This kid..” he mutters.  
“Anyway,” Gusto says loudly, “Would any of you two tell me why you kids are all the way out here, fighting a frickin’ manifest user?” Gusto says, looking at Bloody Sunday.  
“Well, we’re trying to find your son, Karlo.” Said Mary  
Gustos’ face turns into a blank expression, “What’d you mean?” He asks  
Mary looks at Manzana, “You still have the note on you?” She asks, Manzana nods and digs into his back pocket and pulls out a crumpled up not, Manzana hands the note to Gusto. Gusto un-crumbles the paper and reads the note from ‘I.P’.  
After Gusto had finished reading, he crumpled up the paper and drops the note to the ground, “Is this some kinda joke?” He asks agitatedly.  
Mary slightly turns her head in confusion, “Huh? What’d you mean?”  
“Is this some kinda joke?! My son has been missing for 5 years, and you kids think it’s funny to just pull this kind of stunt?” Gusto says angrily.  
“No, wait sir. It’s not some prank.” Mary exclaimed  
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ..” mutters Gusto, “Why do I even waste my time?”  
“Hey, lay off, dad.” Said Manzana, “Don’t get so riled up, Jesus. This note is legit, trust us.”  
Gusto sighs, “ I honestly don’t see how or why I should trust you guys.”  
“I didn’t believe myself, sir. But after this attack, I’m sure this ‘I.P’ man has your son.”  
Gusto looks to his left, not knowing whether he should believe them or not.  
“Come on, dad. Trust us, please.” Pleaded Manzana. Suddenly, Marys’ phone began to ring. She checks the caller id, it’s an unknown caller. Mary answers the phone and puts it up her ear, “What?” She says to the phone. “Hello, my name is Hazel, the text to speech messenger bot, and I’m calling because you, Mary Siant, have a message! The message will play in a short second.” Said a cheerful, feminine robotic voice, “Hello, Mary Siant, this is a message from the man you know as ‘I.P’.”  
Mary gasps and quickly puts the call on speakerphone, “Look, Mr. Tahara, it’s the I.P guy!” She exclaims. Gusto walks closer to the phone to listen.  
“I am sure you are aware that your lives are in danger, because of that attack from Bloody Sunday, that you have unfortunately lived. I’m glad you’ve survived the first two attacks, it proves you’re capable of fighting, I hope that Manzana Tahara has become experienced with his newfound power, or else everything would have been a waste of time. And one more thing. Karlo Tahara is safe with me, don’t worry too much about it, just become competent in the fighting. I take pride in fairness.”  
After Hazel had read the message, a loud, long beep came right after it. “That was all she wrote. Thank you, and goodbye!” Said Hazel, before hanging up. 

Gusto glances at the ground, then at them. “I really hope that was enough to at least convince him..” thought Manzana.  
“Y’know, I’ve had my fair share of bizarre and abnormal events, and I don’t completely think you’re lying, now I even think you’re telling the truth because of that message” Gusto exhales through his nose, “Damn it. If this shit’s really true, then I’m coming with you, to see if my son is still alive.”  
Manzana sighs in relief, “Thank you, dad.” Thought Manzana.  
“Well then,” Gusto says gleefully, “Let’s not waste haste and get moving, huh?” Gusto begins walking aimlessly East.  
“Uh, Mr. Tahara? Where are you going?” Asked Mary  
“We’re going to a hotel! It’s close to location North, West, East and South. Besides, it’s getting dark.” Explained Gusto  
“Well shit, I am getting pretty tired, let’s go going guys.” Yawned Joseph  
Gusto quickly halts and turns back, “Hold on! Manzana, carry that guy with us.”  
Manzana looks back to see Bloody Sunday, then turns back to look at Gusto, “You want me to bring him?” He asked  
“I mean, yeah. He could have some info about this ‘I.P’ guy, now come on, have Mary or Joseph help you.” Suggested Gusto  
Manzana motions both Mary and Joseph carry Bloody Sundays’ unconscious body with them.  
“Is he still alive?” Asked Gusto  
“He’s still breathing, Mr. Tahara!” Responded Mary  
“Good, good. Let’s hope I didn’t leave him brain dead or somethin’” Gusto said back  
Joseph looks at Manzana, confused, but Manzana just shrugged and began carrying the body.  
Gusto turns to look at Joseph, “Why the hell are you wearing a zoot suit?” He asks. “I just thought it looked cool.” Replies Joseph, Gusto shakes his head.  
“We need to buy you some better clothes, kid.” 

Both Mary and Manzana sigh, they walk past a large television set that’s on display in an electronics store, the TV’s playing a special broadcast.  
“Breaking News!” Yelled the news anchor excitedly, “An odd phenomenon had just occurred all over the globe. Where multiple people suddenly gained supernatural and inhuman abilities, and scientists have no explanation for these bizarre occurrences! But, this situation is strangely similar to other cases from 2005, where 3,000 people from America and Mexica died or were killed suddenly rose back from the dead and was suddenly gifted this strange power! This case is also strangely similar to one dated back to the 1910s and ’80s! What’s causing these strange occurrences? Why is this happening and what will these bland, ordinary people, police forces and criminals do with these newfound powers? Stay tuned in Channel 6 for all the Mexican and American news, this is your news anchor Johnmy Chavez, signing off.”


	7. A Vulgar Introduction

“Hey, uh... Mr. Tahara?” Asked Joseph, struggling to carry Caesars’ unconscious body, along with his bag on his back, “Are people supposed to be unconscious for so long?”   
“Of course they are! They’re usually unconscious for this long. Speaking of, how long have we been walking?” As Gusto   
Mary sighs loudly, she quickly lets one hand go from carrying Caesar and shakes it upward and down, “We’ve been walking for 5 hours, Mr. Tahara. It’s already night.”   
“Oh, damn.” Gusto places his palm on the side of his cheek, “Kids, make sure that guy isn’t dead. We’re near to the hotel I was talking about 5 hours ago.”   
Gusto places his hand over his head and squints into the far distance, “Hey! The hotel’s right there! Come on, let’s get the good rooms before anyone else does.” Gusto says excitedly, he begins to walk slightly faster.   
Mary glances at Manzana, “Does your dad usually make you carry unconscious bodies around?” She asked jokingly, Manzana glances back at her, “I wish, then he wouldn’t be asleep so often.”   
Mary looks at him, confused, “Does your dad sleep a lot?” She asked. Manzana sighs, “He does it too often, it’s either that or working for a week without coming home. If I’m lucky, he comes back after 1 day. Despite that, he’d just spend the day sleeping from the early morning to late night..” Manzana sighs again and glances down at the ground.   
Joseph groans loudly in annoyance, “God, you two sigh too much. Can’t wait for you guys to grow up and stop sighing with teen angst.”   
Mary rolls her eyes at Joseph, then glances at Manzana again, “Sorry about your dad not spending much time with you.”  
Manzana scratches the side of his head with his finger, “Sometimes, I don’t know if it’s a good thing that we don’t spend time with each other. I feel like it’s kinda up in the air.” Manzana was quickly interrupted by Gusto’s loud cheering, “Aye! We’re at the hotel! Come on, this place is good as hell. Let’s get the best rooms, pendejos!”   
“I think he forgets that he’s talking to kids sometimes.” Said Manzana, rubbing his left eye.

Gusto looks at the hotel, with strange admiration, he admires the wooden sign in front of a reception area that says “‘Sloon”, the shabby, cheap and wooden exterior of the 3 story hotel makes him dreamily smile. Despite the wooden exterior, the reception area has a more modern aesthetic, with white tiles, walls, and ceiling. There are 3 black chairs facing each other from the walls, next to the chairs, there are 2 water-coolers facing each other.  
Standing in front of them is a wide, large, white desk with a dark brown wooden platform ingrained onto it.   
Standing behind the desk are 2 elderly people, smiling at each other whilst talking to one another.   
“Um... Mr. Tahara? Why’re we going to this piece of shit?” Joseph asked rudely, Gusto faces Joseph, angrily.   
“First of all, watch your mouth, menso.” Gusto scolded Joseph, “Second of all, this place isn’t a ‘piece of shit’, it’s probably the best hotel in the 5-mile radius of any direction!”   
Mary oddly glares at Gusto, “5 miles? Then why’d we take so long to get here?!”   
Gusto smiles at her, and scratches his forehead, “I might have gotten us lost halfway through.” He admitted, “But what’s important is that we made it! So let’s get a-comforted.”   
Gusto enters the reception, and instantly grabs a plastic cup from the water-cooler and gets water.  
“I can’t believe your dad got us lost. He must not be the brightest, huh?” Mary said to Manzana, Manzana only shrugs, “I really wouldn’t know, Mary.”   
They continue to carry Caesars’ body into the reception room.   
Once they’ve got into the reception room, they place Caesars’ body lightly on the chairs and stand near Gusto, who was talking to the receptionists.   
“Aye!” Gusto says cheerfully loud, “How much is the room on the far right on the 3rd story, eh?”   
The elderly man only stares at Gusto, confused.   
“Oh, I’m sorry dear. My husband's hearing isn’t as good as it used to be, and without enough money for hearing aids, he’s practically deaf.” Explained the elderly woman, “The room you mentioned on the 3rd story is 20 dollars, dear.”   
Gusto smiles at her and grabs 130 bucks from his back pocket, and hands it to her, “Here, that’s enough to buy your husband at least some decent hearing aids, ma'am.”   
The elderly woman smiles gratefully at Gusto, “Thank you, sir! Please, enjoy your stay. You can stay as long as you like!”   
Gusto smiles and tips his hat to her, he motions the kids to begin moving out, but he’s suddenly halted.   
“Hold on.. you guys smell that?” Gusto asks, he sniffs the air around him, the kids begin to sniff around too.   
“Oh, man. Yeah, what the hell’s to smell?” Complained Joseph, Mary covers her mouth and nose with her hands, “Dang, I smell it too? What is it?”   
“It almost smells like..” Manzana says slowly as he sniffs the air, Gusto loudly interrupts him with his hands over his head, “It smells exactly like shit!”   
The elderly woman gasps, “Oh, I’m so sorry. That must be our grandson, Benny.”   
“Damn, lady. You need to change that baby!” Suggest Joseph, the elderly woman shakes her head, “Benny isn’t a baby, I’m afraid. But an adult living here for a while.”   
Josephs’ head was scrambled, until the pieces clicked, “Wait, so what you’re saying is that...” Joseph cups his nose and mouth with his hands, “That this adult shit himself?!” He yells obnoxiously loud.  
“Hey! Keep your dang voice down, Joseph!” Scolds Mary, she smacks him on the back of his head, Joseph groans lowly.   
“But- Sis, there’s an adult living here who shat himself!” Said Joseph, Gusto shushes Joseph, “Be respectful, Joseph. It’s none of our business anyway.” He scolds, Gusto turns to face the elderly lady, “So sorry about this kid. He isn’t mine, trust me.”   
The elderly woman nods sadly, “It’s fine, sir. Here are the keys to your room.” She slowly hands Gusto a key that has the numbers ‘113’ ingrained on its side.   
“Thank you, ma'am. Sorry about the kid again.” Apologized Gusto, Joseph rolls his eyes, “It’s not my friggin’ fault there’s a man here that shits..” He mutters.   
Mary fake smiles at the lady before glaring at Joseph aggravatingly.   
Gusto begins motioning the kids to carry Caesar out of the building, he flips the key up and catches it mid-air, the kids carry Caesar from both his arms and legs, Joseph grabs onto both of his legs whilst Manzana and Mary carry his arms, they begin to walk out of the receptionist, but Joseph suddenly stops walking.   
Mary looks at Joseph, “Ahem, Joseph? We have to get moving.”   
Joseph sniffs around the air and groans in extreme discomfort, “Aw shit, I’ve got bad feelings about the shit smell becoming more defined..”   
“The what smell? What do you..” Mary stops talking to sniff around the air and cups her mouth with her left hand.   
“Wait, that smell is becoming more defined and intense.” She complains, the elderly woman turns back to stare at a brown door behind her desk, the sound of sneakers rubbing against the floor is heard from behind the door, the noise coming closer and closer to the door itself, the golden knob of the door turns left. The door slowly creaks open, revealing an extremely underweight man with a weak mustache and little to no hair on his head. He sports a black, stained t-shirt with a flannel overcoat with blue jeans and black, worn-out sneakers.   
“Hey, gramma. I’ve spoiled myself again..” The man says embarrassingly, the elderly man pinches his nose, “Hell, did that damn kid shit himself again?!” He complained.   
“Goddamn, this isn’t the first time?” Thought Manzana, covering his nose with his sleeve.  
“Oh, Calvin. Please don’t come out and talk about that stuff while there are guests here..” Said the elderly woman, she sadly shakes her head at him, Calvin sadly looks at the ground.  
“Hey, let’s quickly go to the hotel room so we won’t smell so much of that shit, eh?” Joseph said in a hushed voice to Manzana and Mary, they both nod their heads and begin to make their way outside.   
“Hey.. you..” Calvin said weakly, “Did.. did it hurt?” His voice cracked as he said it.   
They all looked at each other, Calvin nervously points at Mary.   
“Huh? Me?” Mary asks, “Did what hurt?” Calvin nods his head, “Wuh, When you f-fell from heaven..?” He stuttered. Joseph nearly bursts out laughing, he contains his laughter by turning away and covering his mouth with his arm.   
“Oh, um..” She stammered, “No?”   
Judging from his face, Mary could tell that he probably felt heartbroken that his pick-up line had failed.   
“Well. Well, wanna maybe hang out? We could chill in my room alone?” Asked Calvin, sweating from his forehead.  
Mary smiles at him nervously, “No.” she responds nicely. Calvin frowns at her, “Wait! My room’s big and soundproof! We can perform sexual activities! Please!” He begged.   
the group looked at Calvin in disgust.   
“Ew! How old are you, dude?” Asked Joseph, Calvin frowns at Joseph, “I’m only 19! See? It’s legal!”   
Manzana steps in front of Mary, “Hey, she’s only 15, creep. You better just back off.”   
Calvin scoffs at Manzana, “Typical! Women never want to give me a chance. Only sucking dicks of Chads like you, beaner!” He shouts at Manzana, the elderly woman pushes Calvin back into the room he came out from, “Calvin! You can’t say that!” She scolded, she turns back to face the group and sighs, “Oh, I’m so sorry. Please forgive him, he acts out when woman don’t ‘give him a chance’.”   
Gusto nods his head, “It’s fine, ma'am. Just keep your boy in check, yeah?” Suggests Gusto, Joseph tugs on Gustos’ poncho, “Hey, let’s get to our rooms. I wanna lay in bed already!”   
Gusto sighs and nods his head, “Sure, you kids get up to the room, I’ll be right there.”   
The kids quickly make their way out of the reception room and carry the body onto the first case of stairs, whilst walking up the stairs, Mary sighs shakily.   
“Jeez, that was so weird..” She says lowly, Joseph looks at her, “You mean that Calvin guy? What an asshole he was. Honestly, what a creep.” Manzana nods his head, “I hope we don’t run into that asshole again. I’ve already gotten tired of his man-child screeching.”   
They approach the second case of stairs and begin walking up the 3rd story, Mary glares at the unconscious body they’re carrying “Hey, do you think it’s natural for someone to be unconscious for this long?” Joseph glares at the body, “Eh, probably. Mr. Tahara did hit him hella hard.” He responded, Joseph then looks at Manzana, “Hey, Zana. Does your dad usually dress like he’s going to an outlaw convention?” He asks jokingly, Manzana smiles at him, “Nah, he usually dresses like a bum or a factory worker.” He chuckles, “This is probably the first time I’ve seen my father dress appropriately.”   
Joseph snickers, “Yeah, if you call dressing like a cowboy for saving some dumb kids ‘appropriate’”   
They finally approach the final case of stairs, they make their way up the unusually short staircase.   
“Damn, these stairs are shorter. You think they ran out of money to make some more steps?” Asks Joseph, but Mary quickly gestures him to shut up, “Hey, we’re on the 3rd floor. Can one of you get the door for us?” Asks Mary, Joseph nods “Sure, gimme the keys.” He asks, Mary looks at him, confused “The keys? I thought you had them?” Joseph shakes his head, “Of course not.” Joseph looks at Manzana, “Hey, Zana. You got the keys?” Manzana shakes his head, Joseph groans loudly.   
“Damn it, Mr. Tahara has them! That damned mustachio cowboy!” Groans Joseph, Mary rolls her eyes, “Let’s sit the body next to the door. Mr. Tahara said he picked the room on the very right.”   
Joseph sighs through his lips, and hustles the body to the room door, “Let’s hustle assholes!” He yells to them.   
They quickly rushed to their door, and sits the unconscious body next to the door, Joseph sighs annoyingly loud while Mary and Manzana sit next to the body.   
Manzana sets his bag down near him, same with Mary with the exception of Joseph, who’s still carrying the bag on his back.  
“Manzana, I wanna thank you for telling that man off, even if he left the room vulgarly.” She said to Manzana, he nods to her, “No worries, Mary. That’s what friends do, anyways.” He said to her, Mary smiles sweetly at him.   
“Hey, Zana.” Says Joseph, “What’d you think we’re gonna do with that body?” Manzana shrugs, “I dunno. I’m hoping we can maybe interrogate him, get some info about ‘I.P’ or even if he knows anything about my brother.”   
“Manzana, you hadn’t told us about your brother at all.” Said Mary, Joseph nods his head ecstatically, “Yeah, why haven’t you ever told me about your bro? We’ve been friends for too long for you not to tell me about your brother.” Manzana stared at the ground with half-closed eyes, “I would rather not talk about, guys.” He responds lowly, Joseph groans “Aw, come on, man! Please, tell us!”   
Mary slaps Josephs’ wrist, “He doesn’t wanna talk about it, Joseph. Just drop it!” She scolds, Joseph rolls his eyes at her, he views a parking lot that only housed 2 cars from the guard railing that are attached to the 3rd-floor ground.   
They hear footsteps walking up the third case of stairs, Gusto walks onto the third floor and walks to toward his room, he pulls out the room keys from his back pocket, “Heh, sorry kids. Looks like I hadn’t given you guys the keys, my bad.” He chuckles, Manzana groans in annoyance, Manzana and Mary grab their bags as they wait for Gusto to approach further   
Gusto approaches the door and unlocks it with the key, he opens the door to reveal a modern-esque room with white walls and carpet floors, there are three beds facing away from one of the walls, a single chandelier styled light hangs from the ceiling and a small television set facing the 3 beds.   
“Alright kids, make yourselves at home.” Said Gusto, he motions the kids into the room.   
“Geez, Mr. Tahara. Why does this room look so nice for a shitty looking hotel?” Asked Joseph, Gusto sighs “Jesus, why are you swearing at such a young age?” He asks, Joseph merely shrugged, “I dunno, Mr. Tahara. My dad has the loudest and filthiest mouth.”   
Gusto slaps his forehead and walks into the room.   
Mary lets go of Caesars’ body and sits on one of the beds, setting his bag down on it.   
Manzana and Joseph place Caesar on a chair in the corner of the room, put their bags down, then they both sit on the same bed as Mary.   
Gusto glances at Caesar, then at the kids, “Alright, children. I think it’s time I explain this whole ‘manifestation’ situation..”


	8. Bloodied Sunday

Gusto paces around, wondering how he could begin to explain to the children how their powers work, he closes his eyes and sighs before opening his eyes again and looks at the kids.   
“Alrighty, judging by the fact that you three have a ‘Manifests’, you all probably have died already.”  
They nod their heads almost in sync, staring at Gusto as he continues to pace around the room.   
“First things first, these manifestations of yourselves are called ‘Psyches’, for they represent your mind and spirit, not only that, they are manifested and are solely operated by your desires, whether good or bad.” Gusto chuckles lightly, “And damn, aren’t you lucky. Because the only way to get a Psyche after dying is when both the spiritual and physical reality crash into each other.”   
Manzana raises his hand, “Yes, Manzana?” Says Gusto, Manzana put his hand back down, “But don’t you also need a burning desire to get a Psyche?” He asks Gusto nods.   
“Yep! I’m guessing your Psyche told you that after you appeared in a white limbo, right?” Asked Gusto, Manzana nods his head.   
“Anyway, you need both a burning desire and the spiritual and physical reality to crash into each other.” Gusto explained again.  
“Mr. Tahara, what is this ‘spiritual reality’ you mentioned?” Asked Mary, Gusto snaps his fingers at her “Good question, Maria. The spiritual reality is exactly like ours, but instead of our physical selves, it’s our Psyches living like wandering souls with no destination.. when the two realities crash, our spiritual counter-parts become one with us and vice versa.”   
“And how do these two realities ‘crash’?” Asks Manzana.  
“They crash when an already existing Psyche-user has so much power that they could cause a spiritual rift between the two realities, thus forcing them to crash.”  
“How can a Psyche do that?” Asked Joseph, scratching his head.   
“A Psyche could have any type of ability, ranging from powerful, obscure or weak. But, how ‘powerful’ your Psyche is doesn’t matter at all.”   
“Oh?” Said Manzana, “How so?”   
“See, a Psyche could have any power, but it won’t matter, because it all depends on the person. Look, if someone had a Psyche ability that allowed them to manipulate fire, one doesn’t think ‘They might burn me alive’ but instead, ‘How can they burn me alive?’ Do they have the mental power to raise the flames? Or are they smart enough to surround you with them? Are they smart enough to through fire projectiles? See? Someone may have the menacing power of flames, but can they use that power to its’ fullest potential? Or use it recklessly like a dunce.”   
“Ah, so what you’re saying is that it doesn’t matter what a Psyche can do, but how the user uses it?” Says Manzana, snapping his fingers.   
“Correct, Hijo! Absolutely correct!” Gusto said cheerfully.  
“Mr. Tahara!” Mary cried out, “Can you go more in-depth of being able to be brought back alive with a Psyche?” She asked.   
“Ah, yes.” Gusto replies, “Not only do you need the two realities to crash, but to have a powerful, burning desire like I mentioned. See, one can have a desire to guide people. Guide them from a bad place to a better one, or to save people, having that kinda desire brings you back to life as if you were reborn, but that desire is your new purpose. Your desire to save people is now your purpose to save people, your desire to guide people becomes your purpose to guide people, perhaps out of a dark place or a bad situation. Your desire and purpose also play a part in operating your Psyche. You have a sudden desire that’s far off from your original desire and purpose, then your Psyche can not operate nor appear, for it’s not its purpose to oblige to ones’ new desire.”   
“A Psyche won’t manifest if you have a different desire?” Thought Manzana, “Is this why Space Oddity won’t appear? Come to think of it... What was my original desire? What did I desire?”   
“Also, one final thing... I think.” Said Gusto, “You all know how you died and got a Psyche?” They nod their heads again. “You get two more chances known as ‘Winds’, your first death was your ‘First Wind’, if you die a second time and have a brand new, burning desire that’s different from your original one, then you get another chance at life, it’s your ‘Second Wind’ once you die for a second time. You can also die a third time, but it’s called your ‘Final Wind’, where you get your final chance at life, if you blow it, then you’re dead for good, no comin’ back.” Warned Gusto.   
“Oh, shit..” Joseph muttered, “You just dropped the biggest info bomb ever, Mr. Tahara. I wouldn’t think that this would be so complicated... Like, two different realities?” As Joseph kept on talking, Mary glares at Caesars’ body twitching and abruptly moving, she stands up from the bed and slowly approaches Caesar.   
Caesar seems to be muttering something, but his words are indistinct, Mary turns her face toward the group, “Hey, Bloody Sunday seems to be regaining consciousness.” Said Mary, the group huddles around Caesar, watching as his twitching became more common, and his abrupt movements jumpier.   
Just then, Caesar looks straight up at the ceiling and desperately gasps for air, his muttering turning into loud gibberish.  
“No, No! Please, no more! No more, Bloody Sunday!” Cried Caesar, he squirms around the chair, not realizing where he is. Caesar rolls from the chair and to the ground, squirming and shaking intensely on the ground.   
“Oh shit!” Yells Joseph, “He’s spazzing the hell out! Someone contain him or somethin’!”   
Manzana grabs onto Caesar and holds him, and tries to slowly cradle him, it had seemed to work. Caesar trembled intensely in Manzanas’ arms, “I..I..Uh..” Caesar said weakly, “No... No more... Bloody... Sunday..” Caesar wipes the sweat from his forehead and licks his upper-lip, only to taste the bitter iron taste of dried blood from his nose.  
“N..No more! No more blood, I’ve had it! Please, no more!” He cried. Caesar shuts his eyes and whimpers.  
Manzana let’s go of Caesar, but he quickly grabs onto Manzanas’ arm, “Don’t go! Please, don’t let Bloody Sunday do it again!” He yells, Manzana jerks his hand away from Caesar.   
Caesar quickly gets up and grabs the chair he was laying on, and runs to the other side of the room, holding the chair by its legs and swaying it around, “Don’t get close!” He yells, “Please, don’t!”  
Gusto approaches Caesar, paying no attention to the chair he’s swinging around.  
“Stop this ‘helpless’ and ‘distressed’ act, it won’t work, weasel.” Gusto said coldly, aiming his gun at one of Caesars’ eyes.  
“ ‘Helpless’?!” Yelled Caesar, “ ‘Distressed’? I don’t know what you mean, sir. But please, don’t let Bloody Sunday hurt me again, I can’t bear it anymore!”   
Gusto gasps, and slides his gun back into his holster, “Holy shit, I haven’t seen this instance in a long time..” He said lowly, Joseph looks at him, confused.   
“Mr. Tahara? What’d you mean?” He asks. Gusto looks back at him, “There’s this very rare occurrence in which a Manifest could be more powerful than its’ user and take over the users' body. The Manifest acts more like a parasite by then.”   
“More powerful than its’ user?” Asks Mary, “Do you mean that a Psyche could be too much for a users’ mental state to handle? How can a Psyche take over your body if they were like wandering souls?”  
“That’s what I forgot to mention,” Said Gusto, “Psyches’ are just basically mindless, souls that just wander unless there’s a rift between both realities or they perish, but that doesn’t mean that a Psyche can’t become powerful as it just wanders, some Psyches’ are more fortunate to become more powerful, but then if the user can’t handle it, the Psyche grows a conscious, and becomes a deadly parasite to the user. The only way to loosen the grasp of a Psyche is by hitting the user on the side of the head, it might sound irrational, but that’s the only way to save them from their burden.”  
Caesars’ eyes had suddenly turned crimson red, his glare turned sinister and menacing, he stares coldly at Gusto, “You old, damn man! You bonked me on the side of the head. The nerve!” He yells, his eyes suddenly turn back to itself natural form, “I’m so sorry sir, it wasn’t me who said it! Honest, it was Bloody Sunday!”   
“Hmph, at least I gave him a fair fight against his Psyche over his mind.” Says Gusto.  
“Yeah, OK. But what if he’s lying? What if it’s all an act?” Suggested Joseph, “What if he’s trying to get us vulnerable, and when the time’s right, he strikes and kills us! We can’t trust him!”   
Caesar despairingly stared at both Joseph and Gusto, “N-No! Please, you have to believe me!” He cries, he turns his head toward Mary and Manzana, “You two trust me, right?”   
Mary rubs the back of her neck, “I dunno man, you’re kinda suspicious. Besides, why’re you pathetically asking me for trust? You nearly choked me to death, psycho.”   
Caesar makes direct eye contact with Manzana, but Manzana immediately breaks the eye contact by looking at the ceiling.   
“Please believe me! What can I do to earn your trust?!?” He cried. Mary rolls her eyes.   
“How about shutting the hell up? huh?” Suggested Joseph, Caesar immediately shut his mouth closed, Joseph scoffs, “What? I didn’t mean it literally!” Yelled Joseph, he began to approach Caesar further, but Gusto quickly stops him.   
“There’s no point in just yelling at him, Joseph. We should calm him down since it seems like he’s in some sort of panic.” Said Gusto, as he slowly approaches Caesar further, reaching his arms out.   
Caesar began to hyperventilate and tried to back away from Gusto, “No!” He shouts, “Don’t kill me!”  
Gusto grabs onto Caesar and pulls him onto his chest, he holds onto Caesar and cradles him slowly, “Hey, hey, it’s alright now. Bloody Sunday won’t do anything to you.” Gusto said slowly to him, Caesar looks up at Gusto, “Promise that.. please, promise that..” Caesar said, his voice cracking, Gusto nods “Don’t worry.” Said Gusto, “I’m gonna tie your hands with my belt so a Bloody Sunday can’t do anything, got it?”   
Caesar nods and puts both his hands out, Gusto proceeds unbuckle his belt and tie it around Caesar's hands, Gusto takes the chair and adjusts while still holding onto Caesar, and gently sits him down.   
“Thank you, thank you, sir.” Said Caesar, “I would like to apologize for my small episode..”   
“It’s okay, I’ve weakened Bloody Sunday so he won’t be able to take control of your body as much.” Said Gusto, adjusting his hat.   
“Wow Mr. Tahara, how’d you get him to calm down?” Asked Mary, Gusto sighs and looks at her, “Karlo used to have panic attacks like Caesar, and cradling him and reassuring him that nothing bad is going to happened soothed him. I figured it’d work on Caesar too.”   
Gusto turns to face Caesar, “Alright, Caesar. I would like if you were to give information about I.P”  
Caesar nods, “Yes, yes, of course. I would just like to apologize again for my irrational actions, it was most uncalled for.” Caesar says calmly, “To give you a short description of this ‘I.P’ fellow, he’s a tall, dark-haired man who seems to be very fond of sunglasses.”   
Joseph groans in annoyance, “We’re asking who he is, not his fashion sense!”   
Caesar scoffs, “If you were a bit more patient, I would’ve gotten to that sooner, nitwit.”   
“Oh, you measly weasel!” Mutters Joseph, “I oughta kick you in the shin!”  
Caesar glares at Joseph meanly, then at Gusto, “But I’ve digressed. This ‘I.P’ man is an extremely dangerous individual. The only why Bloody Sunday and I agreed to comply with him is so then he can spare our lives.”   
Manzana looks at Caesar, curiously, “You’ve fought I.P before?” He asks, Caesar nods, “If that’s true.. then do you have any idea what his Manifest is like?” Manzana asks again, Caesar looks at the ground, contemplating, “I really don’t have any idea on how to explain his Psyche.. but he somehow knew what Bloody Sunday was doing before he even did it. For example, Bloody Sunday tried to attack I.P with a blood puddle that was below him, trying to strangle him with blood in the form of a noose, but I.P had launched himself in the air. When Bloody Sunday had thought that using his blood manipulation was useless, he tried getting physical. But every jab, kick and a hit was already dodged and blocked by I.P. I.P had nearly broken my wrists before the trick could even be put into motion.. it was almost as if I.P had foreseen everything.”   
Manzana nods, “Can we assume that his Manifest ability is to see into the future?”  
“It’s a very strong assumption, but at the same time, it’s plausible.” Said Mary to Manzana, she looks at Caesar, “What happened after that?” She asks.   
“Well, after he nearly broke my wrists, he swept me under my feet and I fell to the ground, he placed his foot on my throat, pressing it down hard. For some reason, he asks me if I ever hated someone so much that I would test them to see if they were worthy enough to be killed by me. Though my personal answer was ‘no’, Bloody Sunday answered ‘yes’. After Bloody Sunday answered I.P, he removed his foot from my throat and helped me up, he then said that he was willing to spare our lives for a favor, and of course, Bloody Sunday had blindly agreed.”  
Mary shakes her head, “You recall the story from your perspective as if you were the actions, like trying to hit I.P, but Bloody Sunday was in control of your body. why is that?” She asks Caesar.   
“Even if Bloody Sunday is in control of me, it’s still my body. It’s like, I’m a plane and Bloody Sunday is the pilot, he takes control of me and does whatever.” Caesar replies.   
“There’s one thing I don’t understand.” Says Manzana, “Why were you.. or Bloody Sunday fighting I.P?”   
Caesar contemplates for a quick, short while.   
“When Bloody Sunday takes control of my body, I lose almost all of my senses. Hearing, seeing, and speaking, but I still maintain the sense to touch and feel but I also to have control of my limbs like my legs or arms when Bloody Sunday is in control, I can still touch and feels with the exception of total control of myself. What I’m trying to say is that I don’t know what started the encounter.. either I.P had provoked Bloody Sunday, or vice versa.. but I’m guessing it’s the latter.” Replies Caesar.

Joseph groans loudly and impatiently tap his foot on the ground, “Well? What was the favor he asked?”   
Caesar rolls his eyes, then looks at Manzana, “Is this imbecile always this impatient?” He asks, Joseph bites his lip and clenches his fist, “You dirty damn redhead.” Joseph says under his breath.   
Caesar sharply inhales, “Anyways, he asked me if we were willing to kill a teenage boy named ‘Manzana Tahara’”. Caesar looks at Manzana, “He described you in great detail, telling me that you had black, messy hair and that you had a few white strands on the backside and front side of your hair, dirt brown eyes, chapped lips, and even said that you were wearing some dark red fingertip coat with a white shirt under it.”  
“What the hell?” Said Joseph, “How does this guy know so much about Manzana? Not only that.. but he also knew what he was wearing? How?!”   
Caesar stares meanly at Joseph, “What? You’re expecting me to know?”   
Joseph bites onto his lip harder, almost to the point of bleeding.   
“How were you even able to find us?” Asks Mary, scratching her head, Caesar looks at Mary, “I’m still confused about it, but he said that you guys were going to the Mini-Paris tourist attraction in Los Diablos.”   
“How long ago was this conversation between the two of you?” Asks Manzana, Caesar looks at him with a concern expression, “He told me 2 days before I encountered you guys.”   
“What the heck?” Said Mary, “He somehow knew where we were heading to before we even got our own Psyches? Let alone before even facing someone who had a Psyche!?” Mary said worryingly.  
“Just who the hell is this guy?” Gusto asks. Caesar looks at him worryingly, “I dunno. But he seemed pretty keen on Manzana Tahara dying, telling Bloody Sunday that he could use any filthy trick he pleases, as long as it killed Manzana. He also told us if Gusto Tahara entered the scene, then Bloody Sunday had the permission to kill him..” Caesars’ eyes turned into a deep, dark red color, and his face became somewhat pale, “He treated us like we were his employees!” He said in a deep voice, his eyes turned back to normal, and his skin was no longer pale.   
“Oh, shit.. was that Bloody Sunday?” Asks Joseph, Caesar slowly nods, “Unfortunately..”  
Joseph began to slowly back away from Caesar, Caesar looks dully at him, “Don’t worry, since Gusto Tahara hit me on the side of the head, he had weakened Bloody Sundays’ influence over my body. He can’t use me as a host as often now.”   
Joseph scoffs, “Pssh, yeah, as if that calms me down!”   
Manzana shakes his head, “Caesar, did I.P tell you anything else?”   
Caesar shakes his head, “No, he only told me to scout near the Mini-Paris attraction and left.”   
Manzana nods, “How about his Psyche? I’ve noticed that some Psyches’ have a unique look... how did his look?”   
Caesar merely shrugs.  
Gusto nods his head, “So.. this I.P guy has the Psyche ability to possibly see into the future and wants to kill Manzana and possibly me too.. Goddamn.. can anything get more bizarre than this?” Gusto says defeatedly.   
“I.P is a bigger threat than I would’ve imagined..” Said Manzana, “Then if that’s the case, everyone should go to sleep right now so we can use that energy to head to our next destination.”   
Caesar looks at Manzana, “How about me?”   
Manzana looks back at him, “We could leave you here since you wouldn’t be much use to us anymore.”   
Caesar glares at him, confused, “Really? I thought maybe I could accompany you.”   
Joseph stares at Caesar in annoyance, “Why would we take you with us? Besides, you don’t even know where we’re going or why we’re going there!” Joseph said, obnoxiously.   
“At least I have somewhat of an idea... I’m guessing you’re trying to find I.P since you were interrogating me about him. And because of that, I would like to come along, so I can stick it to I.P for treating me like I was some disposable minion.”  
“Pfft, really? You wanna fight I.P because he treated you like dirt?” Joseph chuckles, Caesar stares at him coldly, “I want to fight him because I was essentially forced to help him because he threatened me, and stuff like that pisses me the hell off. I’d rather help people that I have a trusting relationship with, I’d rather not help people only because they threatened me with possibly empty threats.” Caesar said aggravatingly, Gusto smiles at him, “Ah, you’d wish to be in a relationship where you both can rely on each other.. I like that, you could be a real help, Y’know.”  
“Hmph, I dunno dad..” Said Manzana, “I don’t think we can trust him.”   
Caesar looks at Manzana with a desperate, worried expression, “Please, Manzana Tahara. Allow me to earn your trust, whatever it takes..”   
Manzana closes his eyes and shakes his head, “Even despite the fact you told us info about I.P, that just means that you’re unloyal to him, so why should we expect you to be loyal to us? Because you said that you’d rather be in a trusting relationship?”   
“I..erm..I..” Caesar looks down at the ground with his eyes closed, “You’re... you’re right, Manzana Tahara.” Caesar said defeatedly, “If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me either.”   
Manzana stared at him coldly before looking at everyone else, “Okay, let’s rest up for now. We don’t wanna waste our energy.”   
Mary and Joseph nod their heads, and both jump on one of the beds, “Alright, Mary. You sleep on that side, I sleep on this side.” Joseph says joyfully. Mary rolls her eyes, “Whatever, Joseph.” She tucks herself in and quickly drifts off.  
“Alright, Manzana. You take one bed, I’ll take the...” Gusto said sleepily, before instantly passing out on the bed he assigned to Manzana.  
Manzana sighs in irritation, “Thanks, dad.” He gets in the empty bed and tucks himself in, he stares blankly at the ceiling, wondering when he’ll fall asleep.   
“Hey!” Whispers Caesar, “Heeeey!”   
Manzana sighs with his nose and looks up at Caesar, “What? What is it?”   
“Goodnight, Manzana Tahara!” Caesar whispered happily. Manzana sighs and lays his head back down onto the pillow, slowly drifting off to sleep without realizing it.


	9. Colored Sounds

Manzana is suddenly awoken in the middle of the night by faint talking, he struggles to open his eyes and looks up at the ceiling and sees light coming from a nearby source.   
He sits up to see that the television set is nearly illuminating the room, with almost nearly silent conversations between two characters on the TV.  
Manzana yawns loudly, rubs his eyes and gets up from his bed. He walks up to the television to turn it off, he reaches for the small handle that was on the left side of the television, labeled “Power”.   
Manzana touches the handle and turns it, it clicks and the TV powers off, leaving the room in complete darkness, Manzana lazily walks back to his bed and falls onto it, wrapping himself with the blanket.   
Faintly, Manzana hears the soft hum of the television screen as well as the unintelligible conversations between two people. Manzana groans in discomfort as he struggles to get up from the bed and experience the discomfort of a dim light being shined at eyes that were recently woken up.   
Manzana turns the handle on the TV, but there is no click nor does the TV turn off, the bright, white image of two characters on the screen talking to each other remains. Manzana looks at the TV in confusion, he lightly hits the television on the side and rotates the handle again, and again, no click of the television, and neither did the TV shut off.   
Manzana, now frustrated, bangs the side of the television harder.   
“Turn off, you damn thing..” Groans Manzana, his half-closed eyes now more open and awake.   
Manzana shifts his focus from the handles to the TV screen, thinking that if he can’t turn it off, he might as well watch whatever’s on TV. He sits on his bed to watch the TV, he sees two crudely drawn cartoon characters talking to each other.  
“Man, thing’s been tough ever since that incident happened to us.” Said one of the cartoon characters, the other one nods, “I agree. I just wish that I could’ve seen my family one last time..” Says the second character, The first cartoon character nods too, “Yeah, life’s unfair and cruel.”   
For whatever reason, Manzana felt his spine chilling as the cartoon characters said this to each other.  
The second character snickers, “Yeah! Life’s a cruel, unforgiving bitch!” The first character nods happily, “Hey! I’ve got an idea! Why do we have to suffer through this hell? Why not we invite someone else into this?” Once the first character said this, they both turn toward the TV screen, staring directly at Manzana with blank expressions.   
The sketch lines of the cartoon characters become hard and cruder as they kept staring blankly at Manzana.  
One of them began to stick their hand out toward Manzanas’ direction, the cartoon character began to walk forward with his hand elongated in front of them.   
Manzana suddenly felt his legs moving, not consciously, but as if they were moving on their own, Manzana watched as his legs made him stand up on his bed, wondering if he was dreaming.   
Manzana, still standing on his bed, began to whisper to Mary.  
“Mary!” He whispers loudly, “Mary!” Mary didn’t hear him through her deep, deep sleep, only faintly groaning and turning away from Manzana. Manzanas’ legs step down from the bed and walk toward the television, slowly but surely.   
“What in the fuck?” Thought Manzana, worryingly, he tries his best to stop and halt his legs from moving, but his efforts were wasted and were only met with the horrid sensation of pins and needles in his legs.   
“Fuck, fuck!” Manzana thought frustratingly, “This is just a dream.. but damn, my legs hurt.”   
Manzana looks from his legs and to the TV screen, he sees both of the cartoon characters, drawn beyond recognizable from how they were originally drawn, both holding their hands out to Manzana while staring at him, as Manzana gets closer to the television, his vision becomes blurred and hazy, barely making out the shape of the TV, once Manzanas’ knee bumps the television screen, his sees a sudden flash of light, then total darkness.   
Manzana suddenly sees a hazy light from afar in the midst of the darkness, he reaches his arms out to the light as he walks toward it, getting closer and closer to it, despite that, it only feels like Manzana is getting further and further away from the light, each step he takes.   
Suddenly, a barrage of flashing lights hit Manzana, blinding him. Manzana suddenly wakes up, lying on a green bench, he looks around to find himself in a nice park with a pond with gates around it and birds singing beautifully.   
Manzana sits up and looks up at the sky, “Where am I?” Manzana thought to himself, he gets up from the bench and begins to walk around the park, its’ odd emptiness fills Manzana with unease and discomfort, as he kept walking, he notices that the birds had stopped chirping and the only sounds he heard were of his footsteps.   
Suddenly, a maroon car comes crashing through trees, driving toward Manzana!   
“Hey! Stop!” Shouts Manzana, he puts his hands in front of his face and freezes in shock. The car comes speeding faster towards Manzana.   
The car nearly impacts on Manzana until Space Oddity suddenly manifests behind Manzana and punches the front of the car, instantly halting it.   
Space Oddity dissolves into nothing and disappears, Manzana breathes heavily, then sighs in relief.   
“Damn..” Manzana sharply inhales, “I dunno if I should be mad at Space Oddity showing up so late.. or grateful.”   
Smoke comes irradiating from the hood of the maroon car, the left side of the car door slowly opens as a tall, beautiful woman comes out of it, crying.   
She walks up to Manzana and slaps him, “Miguel! How can you cheat on me?! Why did you break my momma's heart?!” She yells while in tears, Manzana looks at her, confused.   
“Miguel? Sorry woman, you’ve got the wrong guy.” Manzana says calmly, the woman looks at him angrily, “Don’t you dare take me as a fool, Miguel, you vile man!” She yells angrily, she then looks at Manzana somberly and kisses him on the lips.   
“What in the hell is this woman doing?!” Thought Manzana, the woman stops kissing him and slaps him again, “Oh Miguel.. how you break my heart, Miguel..” She says sadly, “It hasn’t been easy for my father this year, he was happy when he heard I’ve met you.. but you’ve thrown it all away and now he’s on his deathbed because of you, Miguel!”   
“L-Lady!” Stammers Manzana, “I’m not Miguel! Please, stop bothering me!”   
Suddenly, a red truck comes crashing onto the park, it drives toward Manzana at high speeds and nearly misses him by a slight graze, the truck comes to a sudden halt, and a tall, buff Mexican man wearing a cuffed flannel, jeans and a blue cap comes out of the truck.   
“Miguel! I know you tried to kill Maria’s father! If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be in the hospital!” Yells the man, the woman gasps and looks at Manzana angrily, “Is this true, Miguel? You tried to kill my father?! How could you, puto!” The woman yells, she pulls out a gun on Manzana, aiming at his torso.   
“Lady, you best put that gun down.” Manzana says sternly, trying to conceal his anxiety, “Or else I would be forced to put that gun down.”   
“Don’t talk to her like that, Pinché puto!” Yells the man, pulling out a gun of his own and aiming it at Manzana.   
Manzana was now noticeably worried, “Hey..! Don’t think so irrationally now..” Manzana says with deep, shaky breathes.   
Manzana began to sweat profusely, his eyes shifted to one person to another, not knowing which one would shoot him first.   
“Aw man.. What’d I get myself into?” Manzana thought to himself.


	10. Colored Sounds Part 2

“Omar! Miguel is mine to kill! Get out of here, before I kill you too!” Maria says to the man, now pointing the gun at Omar.  
“Maria, don’t you dare point that gun at me. Or else I’ll put you down myself.” Responds Omar, also pointing his gun at Maria too.   
Manzana sighs and begins to walk away from them, “There’s no way in hell this is a real situation.. This has to be a dream.. it has to be.” Thought Manzana, looking up at the sky.   
Manzana notices something odd in the sky, he puts his hand above his forehead to shade his eyes from the sun. He sees a strangely large camera just suspended in the air, pointed straight at Manzana.  
“What the hell’s that camera?” Thought Manzana, a sudden strike of a bullet hits the ground near Manzana.  
“Hey, pendejo! Pay attention! While you were too busy with your thought, Maria and I have decided to kill you at the same time!” Shouts Omar, swaying his gun around.   
“This is absolutely absurd.” Manzana says back, “Don’t bother wasting your time trying to shoot me.”   
Omar snickers, “Big talk, Miguel. Do you not fear death itself? Or is it a façade?”   
Manzana smirks, “Damn right.” He thinks to himself, “I just hope they don’t see through it... I still need to figure out what makes Space Oddity appear.”   
Maria cocks her gun, “I wonder if you had such confidence when you tried to kill my father, Miguel.”   
“I just need to figure out what makes Space Oddity appear..” Thought Manzana, “What was my original desire?”   
“Enough!” Yells Maria, “It’s time for your life to come to an end, bitch!” Maria shoots at Manzana and misses, Omar slowly puts his gun down and looks at Maria.   
“You missed.. on purpose? You missed on purpose, didn’t you?!” Omar shouts, now pointing his gun at Maria.  
Maria gasps, “Omar, you son of a bitch!” She points her gun at him too, “How dare you think that I missed on purpose?! You just made it obvious that you and Miguel wanted to kill me, along with my father!”   
Both Mary and Omar shout at each other melodramatically, “That’s it, Maria!” Yells’ Omar, “You’ve crossed the final line!” Shouts Omar, he shoots Maria in the torso, Maria agonizingly groans.   
“You fucking coward, Omar!” Shouts Maria, she shoots Omar between the eyes and he instantly falls backward with his gun tightly wrapped around his hand.   
Maria wallows in her pain as she crotches to the ground and lays there, she looks at Manzana coldly, “You... You bastard, Miguel..” She says with her last breath.   
Manzana blankly stares at both the dead bodies and scoffs, “This is absurd.” He says as he walks over the dead bodies, “This cannot be real. There’s a frickin’ camera in the air for crying out loud!”   
Manzana suddenly feels lightheaded and his vision becomes hazy. His entire vision is blocked by a white blur, Manzana is completely blinded, still walking to oblivion.   
Manzana hears an indistinct sound from a distance, a loud, unindigstinguishgble sound similar to that of white noise.  
The sudden, white blank visual that blinded Manzana suddenly disappears and he finds himself in a completely different area.   
He looks around and sees that he’s in a cabin of some sorts, there’s a wooden dining table with chairs, a kitchen with a window over a stove and the faucet next to it running, pictures of teenagers and children hang on the wall, next to some of the pictures are white doors on an individual, one facing south and the other facing east.   
Manzana looks through the window and sees that it’s pitch black with the weak illumination of stars filling the sky along with the bright, reddish moon.   
Manzana looks at the door on the south side of the wall and slightly opens it, he peeks his head out to examine the other side of the room, but it is only a mere hallway that leads to a bigger room on the left side.   
Manzana opens the door up wide and walk to the bigger room to the left, he sees a living room area with 2 brown couches, a small carpet under a wooden coffee table with 2 red mugs and a single lit candle, in front of the living room accessories is a brick fireplace with a grand fire inside of it.  
On the right side of the room is a red door that led outside, Manzana notices the sound of soft ticking from his left and looks toward that direction, he sees a blue clock that reads “12:01 am”   
Only the sounds of the crackling of the fire, ticking of the clock and the water running through the faucet fill the void, a sudden dread fills Manzana as he realizes that he’s all alone in a cabin in the middle of the night.   
Manzana anxiously walks toward one of the couches and gently sits on top of it, he tries to relax and ease up, but he still feels the unexplainable anxiety and unease of the cabin.   
Manzana then hears a loud, array of footsteps coming closer and closer, he hears the loud breathing of a man as he runs toward the cabin.   
A man with a white, wool shirt and a silky beard comes running into the cabin, out of breath. He quickly closes the door and runs to the kitchen, he comes out with fire ax, hammer and nails, and 5 short wooden planks. He holds the nails with his teeth and places one of the wooden boards on the door, he grabs the hammer and takes one nail from his mouth, and hammers the boards’ corner, he grabs another nail and hammers the next corner of the board and so on and so forth with the rest of the corners of the board.  
The man shakily grabs another board and hammers it on-top of the previous board, as he hammers it, he accidentally injures himself with the intense shakiness of his hands, “Damn it!” The man mutters loudly.   
Manzana looks at him, confused, “Hey, you.” He says sternly, the man jumps in surprise and looks back at Manzana.   
“What the? I thought all the campers were killed...” The man says with a shaky voice, Manzana tilts his head at him. “What? What campers? What’re you talking about?” Asks Manzana. The man shakes his head, “There’s no time to talk, here, take my ax while I board up the door.”   
From the other side of the red door is loud, thumping footsteps of what sounds like large, heavy boots being worn by an adult.  
“Oh, shit... oh shit! He’s here, keep quiet, would ya?” The bearded man says to Manzana.  
Manzana looks at the man worryingly, but complies, he stops talking and tries his best to keep his breath steady and calm. The bearded quietly breathes through his mouth, he puts his ear next to the door to listen if whoever was on the side was still there.   
Manzana hears a loud thud from the other side of the door, and the man groans loudly, Manzana looks at him with concern, “Hey, what’s wrong?” He whispers.   
The man stands straight up, facing away from Manzana, “I..I..” He stammers quietly, he begins to turn toward at Manzana, once he fully turns his head toward Manzana, it’s revealed to Manzana that the bearded man was stabbed in the head, “I’ve been killed..!” He shouts, he falls over, dead.   
Manzana looks over at the red door and sees a single large slit where the man was putting his ear near. Suddenly, a loud kick comes hitting the other side of the door, and another kick and another, the door nearly becomes unhinged because of the sheer amount of force and power of the kicks, the door completely breaks in multiple pieces as a tall, looming man with a mask loom over it, the man comes into the cabin, stepping on the bearded man, walking toward Manzana  
The illumination of the fire reveals the man is wearing an umpire mask, a black rain poncho with blood over it and large boots, he’s also holding an over large sickle on his left hand.   
“Cha Cha Cha... Mi Mi Mi..” The man mutters ominously. Manzanas’ eyes widen at the sight of the unusually tall man, “What the... Who the hell are you?”   
The man runs at Manzana and slashes his right arm with the sickle, Manzana groans agonizingly, “Fuck! This man’s crazy! I need to run out of here as quickly as possible!” he kicks the man in the shin and quickly runs to the kitchen room and shuts it closed.   
“What..?” Thought Manzana, “Why did I go into the kitchen? I needed to go outside.. Why did I run in the kitchen?! My mind thought one thing, but my body did the other!”   
Manzana hears the loud thuds from the hallway, slowly walking to the kitchen room, “Damn it.. Hell, if I have to fight him, then I got no other choice.” Thought Manzana, he opens the stove to find a large, black pan, he smiles and grabs it. Manzana gets himself into a defensive stance, putting the pan in front of, waiting for the man to approach him, Manzanas’ palms begin to sweat as he hears the mans’ footsteps get closer and louder.

Joseph is awoken by the vigorous shaking of Mary, he groans in annoyance and looks at her with half-closed eyes, Mary sighs and rolls her eyes at him, “Joseph, Manzana’s gone and we don’t know where he is.. can you at least help us?” Mary says with concern.   
Joseph rubs his eyes, “Oh.. really? What time is it?”   
Mary sighs, “It’s 5 in the morning, come on, just help, man.”   
Joseph yawns loudly and gets out of bed, he walks toward the television and turns it on, then sits on the bed.   
“Joseph! What’re you doing?!” Asks Mary with frustration, Joseph lazily looks at her, “It’s 5 in the morning.. right? I’ll help look for him later, besides, some horror movie’s almost finished.. I’ll help after this crappy movie’s over.”   
Mary groans and walks out of the room, going outside to search for Manzana.  
“Hey, what movie is this?” Asks Caesar, Joseph shrugs, “I dunno, I don’t care. Just shut up, you dumb weasel.” Responds Joseph with a quiet snicker, Caesar analyzes the television screen and gasps happily, “Ah! This is Saturday the 14th!” He says joyfully. Joseph grimaces, “Saturday the 14th?”   
“Yes!” Says Caesar, “Saturday the 14th Part 6, Josh Lives. It’s one of my favorite slasher films, most people say it sucks, but I have a soft spot for it.”   
Joseph rolls his eyes, “Ok? I don’t care.” He says rudely. Caesar scoffs, “Can you at least turn up the volume? I want to know what part of the movie you’re in.”   
Joseph smugly smirks at Caesar, “Nah, I think I’ll mute it.”   
“Then what’s the point of watching the movie?” Asks Caesar, Joseph chuckles.   
“I can lip read!” Joseph sneers, Caesar looks at him amiably, “I highly doubt that, you dolt.”   
Caesar stands up, still tied to the chair, and positions himself where he can see the movie more clearly, “Aw, this the ending part..” Caesar says sadly, Joseph looks at him, confused.   
“Wait.. you can still stand up even when you’re tied to that chair?” He asks, surprised. Caesar looks at him with concern, “I was tied with my hands.. not my legs. Besides, I don’t want to depart from you guys yet.”   
Joseph looks at him with a surprised expression, “Huh? What do ya mean?” Caesar glances at the ground, “I want people to trust me.. or someone to trust me. Not even my own Manifest trusts me with my own body, and when Manzana called me unloyal, it left me with a sick stomach and a bitter taste on my mouth, and I want Manzana Taharas’ opinion to shift.”   
Joseph scratches the back of his head, “I get wanting to have someone to trust and the other way around... but why Zana?” Joseph asks. Caesar weakly smiles, “I don’t know, really.. There’s something about that Tahara boy that makes me want to stick with him. I just don’t know why.”   
Joseph scoffs, “C’mon man.. you gotta have some ulterior motives. Wanting to change someone’s viewpoint of you just doesn’t cut it.”   
Caesar exhales sharply, “I’ve already told you that I wanted to get back at I.P for treating me like an object instead of a person, I ought to think that those are good reasons.”  
Joseph snickers loudly, “Pssh, yeah right.”   
Gusto comes in the room with his hat in his hand, “Damn it, we can’t find Manzana anywhere..” He says defeatedly, with Mary following him from behind, “Where could he have gone.. do you have any other ideas, Mr. Tahara?” She asks. Gusto shakes his head, “My only ideas are the bathroom.. and we’ve checked there twice.”   
“Hey.. Hey!” Shouts a familiar voice from outside, Mary looks at the direction the noise came from, “Hey, that sounds like Manana!” She rushes outside and surveys the area from the rail guards, but sees no Manzana.   
“What? But I just heard him..” Mary says to herself, she rests her chin on the palm of her hand as she thinks.   
“Hey! Over here!” Says the same voice from the hotel room, Mary looks at the direction of the noise again, “What?” She says to herself, she walks back in the room and looks at everyone, who are also looking around the room.   
“Hey, did you guys hear that?” She asks, they nod their heads.   
“Yeah, man.. Something sounds like Zana, and it’s freaking me the hell out!” Says Joseph, looking around the room.   
Suddenly, there are slow, loud footsteps near the doorway of the hotel room, they all look at the direction of the noise. The footsteps did not climb up the stairs, nor did it sound like it was approaching the door, but as if the footsteps were already at the doorstep, just continuously walking.   
“What the hell?” Gusto mutters, “You guys hear that too, right?”  
Caesar begins to sweat from his forehead, he quickly glances at the TV screen, then at the doorway, Caesar sharply inhales and looks back at the TV screen.   
“You guys! Look at the TV screen!” Shouts Caesar, the 3 of them group around him and stare at the screen.   
“What? It’s just some dumb movie.” Says Gusto, sighing.   
“That’s not it, look at the scene.” Says Caesar, Joseph groans. “Dude, we don’t want to see some dumb movie scene. What’s so important, anyway?”   
Caesar shakes his head, “No, in this scene, Troy Jimmies and Josh are supposed to fight in the climax of the movie, and Troy kills Josh.. but Troy isn’t in this scene, but a teenage boy.” Explains Caesar, Joseph looks at him in confusion, “Ok, so?”   
Caesar groans, “Troy Jimmies has a big beard and is an adult man, that kid in that scene is clearly not!”   
“And?” Says Gusto, “How does this have to do with our situation?”   
Caesar groans again, “Can’t you see?! This is the use of some who had Psyche powers! We need to—“ Caesars’ voice suddenly stops, but his mouth keeps moving, he notices and tries to speak but cannot, Caesar is panicked as he struggles to get himself to speak.   
“Very well.. You have seemed to figure it out..” Boomed a loud voice from above.   
“An enemy Psyche-user?!” Shouts Gusto, “Show yourself, coward! Fight like a man and face us!”   
The booming voice chuckles, “If you insist..” Suddenly, a pitch-black arm comes out of the television screen, then a pure black head, torso, and legs, the figure stands up straight after it gets out of the TV screen, revealing a medium-sized Manifest with two longs television antennas sticking up from his head and has TV screens as eyes that are constantly playing static. On both sides of its head, it has radio turners constantly rotating left to right.  
For its’ mouth, it has one straight line going from cheek to cheek.  
Its skin’s two shades of pink, the salmon pink color going down its head, to its arms and hands, and finally to its waist, legs, and feet.   
Hot pink covers its face and torso.   
Its fingers are completely webbed to each other, both his palms and fingers have speakers embedded into them.  
Smaller speakers to fit their fingertips and larger speakers fitting its palm.   
The Manifest strikes an odd pose, “My Psyches’ name is Pink Noise, and I will remain anonymous to you.. I’m the reason why Manzana Tahara has disappeared, for he’s inside the television screen, playing out whatever situation television puts him in!” Shouts Pink Noise


	11. Colored Sounds Part 3

Manzana grips the frying pan hard, he tries to quiet his own breathing to try to listen more closely to the heavy footsteps of the killer on the other side of the door.   
The man halts right in front of the door, not taking any action. Knowing that the killer is just waiting outside the door sickens Manzanas’ stomach with fear and unease, he focuses on the doorknob, waiting for it to turn. A foot instantly goes through the white door, leaving a large hole, the killer crawls through the door with twisted arms and legs, heavy amounts of drool come out of his mouth as he coldly stares at Manzana with malicious killing intent.   
Manzana sharply gasps, he breathes heavily as he clenches the frying pan in his hand. The killer enters the room, he slowly approaches Manzana, with a sickle in one hand and an ax on the other. Manzana gulps, “Do you think I’m afraid of you?!” Manzana says, trying to conceal all the fear and stress from his face. The killer didn’t respond, only continuously staring at Manzana.   
Manzana tried to distance himself from the killer by standing from one side of the table, the killer flips the table to the side, and rushes toward Manzana, he hastily grabs onto Manzanas’ neck and pulls him close and puts him in a chokehold.  
“God.. Goddamn it..” Manzana managed to say through the killers’ chokehold, the killer tightens his hold of him.   
“I’ve failed to defend myself..again! Wha—What’s the point of having a Manifest if I can’t even save myself?!” Thought Manzana, as he felt himself losing his life for the second time.   
Manzana is suddenly freed from the chokehold, he clothes his eyes tight and coughs violently, he opens his eyes again and looks around to find himself in a white room.   
“Damn it.. is this that Manifest room?” Thought Manzana.   
He suddenly hears the loud, echoing sound of a motor from afar, he looks at the direction of the noise and sees a couch zooming toward him. “I’m getting tired of this damn absurdness. When will this end, damn it.” Sighs Manzana.   
The couch finally arrives at Manzana, and quickly halts in front of him, Manzana stares at it, wondering if the couch itself could be dangerous. The couch suddenly honks at Manzana, impatiently waiting for him to sit down.   
Manzana looks around, then glares at the couch with a slight wince, he rubs the back of his neck, wondering if he should avoid the couch or comply, an uneasy silence fills the room, leaving Manzanas’ spine to chill because of the couch’s strange presence.   
The couch emits a muffled motor noise and a loud flapping noise from its’ backside, it revs a motor and runs into Manzana.   
Manzana is hit by the couch and hits the couch, being forced to be sat down on it.   
The couch drives Manzana to oblivion, accelerating at a faster rate, making the white limbo surroundings turn into a blur. Manzanas’ eyes are practically blinded by the intense, rapid speed of the couch, the couch suddenly comes to a halt.   
Manzana rubs his eyelids and looks around to find himself in an empty church with a pastor standing on top of a soapbox saying something with a microphone. Manzana stands up from the couch and looks at it, waiting for it to make another noise or movement. It did not. Manzana hears a choir from a distance, along with a flute and an Organ Piano. Manzana tries to listen to what the pastor is saying, but the pastor’s merely mumbling, the only words Manzana can make out is “Our Lord” and “Promised Land”. Manzana looks around and wonders how he was suddenly transported from a desolate park to a church, “I’ve made absolutely no progress on finding out where I am!” Manzana thought to himself, “This has to be the work of an enemy.. but if that’s true, then where’s everyone else? Am I the only one affected because I touched that TV?”   
The choir and instruments suddenly stop playing, the pastor suddenly stops speaking and the room is filled with the dead of silence.   
Manzana hears a low but loud chuckle ominously from no distinguishable point of the room.   
“Took you long enough to figure it all out..” Said the low voice, they chuckle again. “Yes.. of course, this is all the work of an enemy. You’re trapped in the world of television.”   
“ ‘The world of television’? What do you mean?” Asks Manzana.   
“I might as well tell you.. since you and your companions are going to die.” Says the voice. Manzanas’ expression turns into a grim one once he heard the mention of his partners.   
“This is the ability of my Psyche, Pink Noise, can suck anyone into the world of television once they’ve watched it for about a few seconds. After that.. the victim will, without knowing, touch or bump into the television by force, it will seem like they’ve done it by pure accident but they are being entirely forced to the action, like an actor following the script to their characters’ demise.” Spoke voice, they chuckle weakly.   
“So.. I’ve been stuck in the ‘world of television’ ?” Manzana says to himself, “If your ability is the world of television.. does that also mean that you can change the channels? Like, take me to different forms of media? Like a drama show or horror movie?” He asks the voice.   
“Of course I can!” The voice responds obnoxiously, “But my power is somewhat limited, and I can change the channel, or change your location, once every half an hour.. it’s a total pain in my ass.”   
Manzana thinks to himself for a moment, “If he can only change the channel once every half an hour.. then how could the channel have changed when I was almost strangled to death by that killer?”   
The voice chuckles loudly, “There’s no need to contemplate to yourself, Tahara. I already know every word you’re going to think.. I’m like a producer looking over a script. You’re wondering about the sudden channel change, yes? Unfortunately, one of your annoying companions from the real world switched the channel and saved you.”   
The voice sighs loudly, “No matter, I’ve put you in the world of television for one reason.. and that’s to kill you, Manzana Tahara!”   
The church interior walls and floor transforms into a melted look, and the temperature of the room rises. Manzana began to sweat. The choir and instruments play again, but they’re loud and are played more aggressively and intensely.  
Static in form of a body appears in front of Manzana, the static slowly fades out to reveal a tall, pink figure with television necessities all over it.   
“This is Pink Noise.. look at him in awe, for he’s the last thing you’ll ever lay your eyes on.” The voice says with opposition.   
“Damn, this might get dangerous..” Manzana thinks to himself, “I hope Mary and Joseph aren’t in too much trouble.” 

Caesar breathes heavily, he trapped himself in the bathroom, barricading himself against the door, his eyes shakily look around the room.  
Pink Noise groans loudly, “You damned redhead.. You just had to go and change the fuckin’ channel..”   
Caesar hears Pink Noise throwing around furniture and stomping on the ground furiously.   
“Shit..” Caesar thought to himself, he slowly caresses his arm, which has a large slit. Caesar opens the door by a small bit, and peeks around the room, he sees Gusto, who is unconscious, has two drawers piled on top of him, along with Joseph laying next to him, blood slowly drains out from his stomach, staining the center of his clothes with blood.   
Caesars’ breath becomes shaky once Pink Noise suddenly appears in his line of sight, lifting up a bed to inspect it, Caesar quietly but quickly closes the door.   
“This TV guy’s a real hothead.. first I switch the channel to save Manzana after he dumbly explained his power, then he just goes apeshit.” He thought, Caesar quietly sighs, he opens the door slightly to peek through again. He focuses his glare toward the puddle of blood-forming out of Joseph, “If I could use Bloody Sunday to control and manipulate the movements Josephs’ blood, then I could definitely strike. But, I risk Pink Noise catching me and find my hiding spot..” Caesar contemplates this as Pink Noise makes a ruckus looking through one of the bags, facing away from Caesar.   
Caesar sweats from the back of his neck, Bloody Sunday slowly manifests behind Caesar.   
Bloody Sunday is made entirely out of blood but is taking a form of a mans’ body, two extremely long and large spears extend from both of his arms, two metal objects form around his chest forming the shape of lungs, a pilots mask covers his face and his oxygen tube is extended and attached to the metal lungs. Two bright, yellow light shines through the goggles of the pilots’ mask.   
“Bloody Sunday.. Take control of Josephs’ drained blood and create movement with it. But, don’t let Pink Noise notice you.” Commanded Caesar through his mind, Bloody Sunday nods.   
Bloody Sundays’ body turns into a puddle of blood, and slithers it’s way to Josephs’ drained bloody, “I still have to find out where Mary went..” Thought Caesar, “Everything happened in a flash after I changed the channel.”  
Caesar scoffs, “My voice is gone, Gusto and Joseph might be dead, Mary is missing, and Manzana Tahara is stuck in a TV.. Just my day.” Thought Caesar, he focuses back on Josephs’ blood, “No matter, if I want out of this predicament, then I have to get myself out, first with finding Mary..”   
Bloody Sunday rotates his hand to the left, slowly. Caesar feels a strange pain sensation in his arm, the puddle of blood suddenly moves.   
Caesar winces, “The puddle moved.. I think I have somewhat of control over it.” Bloody Sunday rotates his hand again at a faster pace, Caesar feels a pain in his hand as the puddle of blood moves to the left.  
“Damn this pain..” Grimaced Caesar, “Bloody Sunday, change the viewpoint of my left eye to the viewpoint of that puddle.” Bloody Sunday nods and covers his eye with his right hand. Caesars’ left eyes’ vision goes dark, his vision slowly becomes more clear.  
From his left eye, Caesar sees the living area of the hotel from the perspective of the puddle of blood, his left vision is still tainted with the red filter over his eye.  
Caesar quickly surveys the area with his left eye before commanding Bloody Sunday to move the puddle further.  
“Bloody Sunday, scout the area. Look for Mary, she could be in peril.” Thought Caesar, Bloody Sunday nods compliantly.   
Caesar covers his right eye so his vision is mainly focused on his left eye, he sees Pink Noise making a mess from drawers. Bloody Sunday slowly rotates his hand further to the left, Caesar feels a sudden sense of pain in his hand. Caesar grimaces, but he musters through the pain and continues to have Bloody Sunday move the puddle of blood further. Caesar glares at the television to see a pastor speaking into a microphone, but the camera that’s facing him is panned far from him, so the entire interior church is shown “At least Manzana is in a different setting..” Thought Caesar, he looks around the more, looking more carefully around the room, he hears faint groans of a girl from outside the hotel room.   
“Hm? Mary’s outside the hotel room? Sheesh.. of course it wouldn’t be that easy.” Thought Caesar, “But at least I know of her whereabouts!”   
Bloody Sunday rotates his hand to the right, slowly, Caesar feels intense pain in his hand.   
“Damn it all!” Caesar thinks to himself with frustration, “My hand pains limit my manipulation over blood! How am I going to safely get Mary?”   
Caesar looks around and notices Gusto, “Hmm.. Perhaps I can wake Gusto Tahara up, but it seems too risky..” Contemplates Caesar, “To hell with it.. I’m willing to take that kinda risk, I just hope I can actually wake Gusto Tahara up.”   
Bloody Sunday rotates his hand to left, slowly moving toward Gusto. Caesar feels the intense pain in his hand, he bites his lower lip and tries his best to ignore the pain.   
Bloody Sunday made his way toward Gusto, Caesar notices Gusto calmly breathing while being unconscious.   
“Good! Gusto Tahara is still alive!” Caesar thought to himself, “His blood pressure must be low, I hope Josephs’ blood type is the same as Gusto Taharas’!”   
Bloody Sunday slowly rotates his hand left, then transitions it to slowly bend upward. Caesar feels more intense pain in his hand.   
The blood puddle slowly gravitates toward Gustos’ face.   
“If I get this blood through his nose and into his brain, I can probably get him to wake up.” Thought Caesar.   
Caesar successfully gets the blood onto Gustos’ face, Bloody Sunday slowly bends his hand upward, the blood slowly goes into the nostrils of Gusto and into his brain.   
“The blood I’m controlling is type B..” Thought Caesar, the blood goes deeper into Gusto's head, “And Gusto Taharas’ blood type is B as well! But, I have a bad feeling that my luck will be cut short..”   
Bloody Sunday pumps the blood into Gustos’ brain, Caesar notices that Gusto slowly begins to open his eyes and his breathing becomes quicker.   
“I’ve done it!” Caesar thought cheerfully.   
Gusto opens his eyes wide, now awake, breathes quickly and heavily as he notices two drawers piled on top of him, Gusto hastily glares everywhere before noticing Caesar peeking from the bathroom, Caesar puts his index finger in front of his lips, quietly shushing him.   
Gusto quickly glances from Caesar and focuses his glare on Pink Noise, he’s still making a mess from one of the bags.   
Gusto mouths something at Caesar. Caesar can’t make it out, but it looks like he’s saying “The hell’s happening?” But, Caesar can’t be too sure. He tries his best to mouth something back at Gusto, but Gustos’ attention was diverted back to Pink Noise.   
Gusto spots his gun near Pink Noise, but he can’t reach it, for it’s out of his reach. Gusto sighs defeatedly, Pink Noise suddenly turns to face him. Gustos’ eyes are still wide-opened, but he’s pretending to be dead. Pink Noise approaches Gusto and examines his body, “Were his eyes already opened? Had he died when I threw the drawers at him?” Pink Noise thinks out loud, still examining Gustos’ body, Caesar finds the sudden opportunity to drag Gustos’ gun closer to Gusto.  
Bloody Sunday slowly rotates his hand to left, controlling the blood puddle to move left, Caesar again feels intense pain in his left hand. Bloody Sunday continues to control the puddle of blood toward Gustos’ gun until he finally approaches it, once he does, Bloody Sunday clenches his fist, and at the same time, the blood suddenly latches onto the gun. Caesar feels a more intense pain on both hands, he shudders and grits his teeth, “Gr... Great... The hard part’s over.. Time to get the gun to Gusto Tahara.” Caesar thought to himself enthusiastically. Bloody Sunday rotates his hand to the right while still clenching it, Something from the television suddenly catches Caesars’ eye, he quickly glances at the television screen to see both Pink Noise and Manzana together inside of a strange church. Caesar looks at the screen in confusion, contemplating how this is possible. “What in the hell?” He thinks, “How can there be two Pink Noises’? “ Caesar sees Pink Noise taunting Manzana by dancing like a fool with unusual passion.   
“When the hell did this blood get here?” Pink Noise says loudly, staring at the blood Caesar was controlling.   
“I don’t remember if Gusto Tahara had his eyes open, but this blood definitely wasn’t here.” Says Pink Noise, “Come to think of it.. That online advert said that one of the targets had ‘blood powers’”   
Caesars’ eyes widen, “What?! Online advert? Target?” He thought to himself, “Had I.P put up advertisements online for those who have Psyche powers to kill Manzana Tahara? Moreover, did he just say one of the ‘targets’ has blood manipulation? He must be referring to me, but how could I.P make me a target if he had no way of knowing that I’d plan on negating our promise!” Just then, Caesar had realized something, “Wait, I.P knew exactly where Manzana and company were going to Los Diablos before it was on their minds.. Could this be his Psyche ability? To somehow foresee things? That has to be it, there’s no other explanation on how he knows that I’m plotting against him..” Caesar thought to himself.   
Suddenly, Caesar began to breathe hastily, wheeze loudly and cough, Pink Noise looks around in alert. “Sh.. Shit!” Caesar thought, “Right at this moment.. I just had to get into a coughing fit..” Caesar quickly digs into his back pocket and takes out an inhaler, he puts into his mouth and pumps it three times.   
“Someone here isn’t like the others..” Pink Noise says loudly in a sing-songy voice, “Someone here isn’t unconscious like the others..” Caesar hears Pink Noises’ footsteps creep up toward the bathroom, Bloody Sunday continues to rotate his hand to the left with his fist still clenched.   
The blood that’s latched onto Gustos’ gun is nearing Gusto, inching closer and closer with each rotation of Bloody Sundays’ hand. Caesar covers his mouth and tries to slow his breathing through his nose to attempt to desperately hide from Pink Noise. Pink Noise turns one of the rotatable switches on the side of his head, and for that, the sound of loud static emits from the speakers in his palms, he continues to rotate them until the sound from his speakers go silent, another noise emits from Pink Noises’ speakers, but instead of static, it’s the loud sound of a persons’ soft breathing.   
Caesar holds his breath for a quick second, then the soft breathing emitting from Pink Noises’ speakers suddenly stops. Caesar breathes through his nose, trying his best to quiet his breathing. The same sound of ones’ breathing continues through the speakers of Pink Noises’ palms. Caesar hears the low chuckle of Pink Noise, “So.. There is someone in the bathroom.” Says Pink Noise with a quiet giggle.   
Caesar gasps, then there’s a gasp coming from Pink Noises’ speakers, Caesar then quickly stares at Bloody Sunday with both a stern and worried expression, “Bloody Sunday, Hurry up and get that gun to Gusto Tahara. I don’t care about the damned pain in my hands.” Caesar commands through his mind  
Bloody Sunday stares back at him blankly, then continues to rotate his hand to the left more hastily.   
The puddle of blood quickly makes its way toward Gusto with the gun, but unfortunately, the weight of the gun is making it difficult for Bloody Sunday to get it to Gusto faster. Caesar worries that he’ll be revealed before he can get the gun to Gusto. Gusto notices the puddle of blood getting his gun to him, he smiles, but his expression turns grim when he sees Pink Noise right outside the bathroom door with both its’ hands bent downward, emitting sound from his palms. Gusto struggles to reach for the gun since it’s somewhat closer to his reach. The gun’s near to Gusto, he tries to grasp for the gun, “Dammit, c’mon.. a little closer.” Thought Gusto, he winces as his arm begins to hurt for trying to extend his arm beyond its’ limits. Caesar begins to sweat from his head, he notices that the breathing from Pink Noises’ speaker is hastened, he tries to calm his breathing, then Pink Noise laughs, “There’s no use in calming yourself down. I know you’re in the bathroom!”   
Pink Noise kicks open the bathroom door to find Caesar and Bloody Sunday, just then, Gusto finally reaches the gun and grabs it, he quickly aims for Pink Noises’ leg, he pulls the trigger, the bullet quickly flies from the gun and toward Pink Noise, but Pink Noise lifts his leg up. The bullet goes through the floor instead.  
Pink Noise turns to face Gusto, “Ha! You really think I hadn’t noticed the puddle of blood dragging the gun toward you?!” Pink Noise laughs loudly, “I have another ability I hadn’t revealed to you, but since you’re going to die, I might as well tell you. I can tune-up or make a specific sound or noise louder by turning these rotators on my head, see?” Pink Noise points at the rotatable switches on the side of his head with a large smile, “I heard the puddle of blood dragging the gun just by looking at it and increasing its’ sound! I figured it out a long time ago!” Boasted Pink Noise, “The funniest part is that you, Gusto Tahara, missed! Imagine being such a fuck up!” Pink Noise laughs triumphantly, he immediately stops when he sees Gusto smirking at him, “Huh? What’re you smiling for? You’re gonna die!” Asked Pink Noise.   
“I didn’t miss..” Gusto says quietly. Pink Noise tilts his head, “Huh? What? What’s you say? Speak up, dammit.”   
“I didn’t miss..” Gusto says more clearly, “I hit right on target.” Just then, the same bullet that went through the floor comes right back up and hits Pink Noises’ knee, Pink Noise immediately collapses and holds onto his leg, “My knee! Fuck! My fucking knee!” Pink Noise wallowed in his pain. Pink Noise notices the hole in his knee, and sees the bloody bullet on the other side of the room, “Wha- How’d I get fuckin’ shot?! All that online as said is that Gusto Tahara had a gun, not weird fucking witchcraft!”   
Bloody Sunday looms over Pink Noise with its’ long, sharp spears on its wrists ready to pierce through Pink Noise. Pink Noise glances at Bloody Sunday and quickly turns the rotatable switches, he suddenly begins to slowly dissolve from sight. “Hey!” Shouts Gusto, “The hell are you doing?!”   
Pink Noise faces toward Gusto, “I’m phasing myself out of the physical realm and to the realm of television. If I wanna kill you guys, I might as well start off with Manzana, as I should’ve done!” Explained Pink Noise before he’s completely out of sight.   
“Wait!” Said Caesar with a quiver in his voice, his voice was back with him at last.   
Gusto groans loudly, “Hey, what’s your face, help me lift these heavy ass drawers on me!” Gusto said to Caesar with a slight strain to his voice. Caesar quickly nods and rushes toward him, and slowly lifts up the drawer, with the aid of Bloody Sunday, and pushes them out of Gustos’ way. Gusto sighs with relief, “Yeesh! My ribs feel like they’ve been completely flattened.. Thanks, whatever your name was.”   
Caesar gives Gusto a weak smile, “No problem, sir. By the way, my name’s Spencer, but please call me Caesar instead.”   
Gusto stretches his back and quietly groans, “Oof, thanks, Caesar.” Gusto glances at Joseph, and sees that he’s bleeding out from his stomach, “Shit, Joseph’s bleeding out!” Gusto quickly stands up, then kneels down before him to closely analyze his injury, he lightly placed both his index finger and middle finger on the side of Joseph’s neck and his wrists to look for a pulse, he still had one, “Caesar, can your Psyche do anything with him?”   
Caesar shakes his head, “Unfortunately, Bloody Sunday cannot help Joseph with the situation he’s in.”   
Gusto closes his eyes and rubs the bridge of his nose, “Damn it. Sorry, Joseph, but there’s nothing we can do.” Gusto says solemnly. Caesar hastily taps on Gustos’ shoulder, “Gusto Tahara! We need to find Mary, her Psyche ability is to heal! We just need to find her!”   
Gusto curiously looks at Caesar, “Yes, but how? We don’t know her exact location? Even if we did, I doubt that we’d have enough time to get her and bring her back. I’m afraid that Josephs’ gone.”   
Caesar shakes his head again, “Don’t be so pessimistic, sir! Judging by our current enemy, I’m guessing he’s not the brightest, which is lucky for us, for I’ve already found a clue on where her location is.” Said Caesar. Gusto stands back up and looks at Caesar with more curiously, “Well then, don’t keep me in anticipation, Caesar, tell me how you know!” Said Gusto. Caesar smiles weakly, “When I was using my Psyche ability that allowed me to take control of a puddle of blood, I heard a soft groan from outside our room.” Caesar explained as he was walking out of the room, there, he found Mary with her hands tied with Gustos’ belt, out cold.   
“Just as I had initially suggested!” Caesar said gleefully, “She’s outside of our room! Pink Noises’ lack of smarts might help us win this encounter, sir.” Caesar says happily to Gusto. Gusto quickly follows Caesar outside the hotel room, “C’mon! We need to get her to wake up, quick! I fear that Joseph may not have time.” Gusto quickly unties his belt from Marys’ hands and picks her up, then carries her back to the room and lightly places her down onto the floor. Caesar follows Gusto, then kneels down, “Ok, sir. We need to have her brain move toward consciousness, to do that, I need to manipulate her blood into moving more quickly and have them quickly go into her brain so then she wakes up.” Explains Caesar. Gusto looks at him with concern, “You sure that’ll work, kid?” He asks.  
Caesar smiles wryly, “Oh, trust me, sir. I’ve read enough of medical education to know this kinda stuff. The poor aspect of knowing about medicine and how to tend a wound is that you can’t really use that knowledge with your Psyche..” Caesar sighs.   
Bloody Sunday suddenly appears behind Caesar, then kneels down next to him, Bloody Sunday then puts both his index finger and middle finger on Marys’ wrists.   
Gusto watches in confusion, “Huh? What’re you even doing?” He asks. “I’m having Bloody Sunday accelerate Marys’ blood circulation so the wake-up process would be quicker.” Responds Caesar, he keeps his glare on Marys’ wrists and begins to sweat. Gusto thinks he looks like he’s in pain.  
Marys’ eyes begin to slowly open, her breath has hastened, and she slowly moves her arms and legs, struggling to stand up.   
“Ugh.. What.. What happened?” She asks tiredly. Gusto sighs in relief, “Thank god we got you awake in time, we need you to heal Joseph, he’s dying!” Exclaims Gusto.   
Marys’ eyes widen and immediately sits up straight, “Joseph?!” She shouts worryingly, she turns her head to see Joseph and sees him bleeding out from his stomach.   
Mary hastily stands up, suddenly, Ave Maria crawls out of Marys’ back and falls over. “Shit! Is that your Psyche?” Gusto shouts while watching Ave Maria slowly stand up, revealing its freakishly tall height. Saliva drools from Ave Marias’ mouth, they slowly wipe the saliva with the palm of its hand as it made its’ way toward Joseph. Ave Maria kneels down in front of Josephs’ body and begins to suck on his bleeding stomach, saliva drools from its mouth and goes onto Josephs’ torso.   
“My god.. How unsanitary.” Caesar says in disgust, “Are you sure that.. sucking his stomach will heal him?”   
Mary rolls her eyes, “Of course it works, dimwit. I know it’s gross, but it can save him.”   
“Hey! What did I do that was deserving of an insult?” Caesar asks, offended.   
Mary sighs loudly, “Can you please shut up? I’m trying to concentrate here.”   
Caesar exhales sharply through his nose, and goes next to Gusto, “Geez, do you know what’s her problem?” He whispers to him. Gusto shrugs, he pulls Caesar further from Mary and whispers to him, “I’m guessing she has a grudge against you.”   
Caesar looks at him sadly, “A grudge against me? But I didn’t do anything wrong..”   
Gusto quietly snickers, “Or more likely, has a grudge against Bloody Sunday. I know you might not remember or didn’t know what happened, but Bloody Sunday kinda blew up Josephs’ legs and nearly choked Mary to death.”   
Caesar sighs exasperatedly, “But, she knows that it wasn’t me who did those actions.. right?”   
Gusto shrugs again, “I think she does know but doesn’t care. To her, you’re the monster who tried to kill her and her brother. The same with Joseph.”   
Caesar gulps loudly, he feels like there’s a heavyweight that was placed on his heart, “Well, what about you and Manzana Tahara?”   
Gusto smiles at him, “I for one know that the Bloody Sunday incident in Los Diablos wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t you committing those actions, it was Bloody Sunday, and I dunno about Manzana, he’s kind of a hard one to figure out. What I’m trying to say, is that I think you’re pretty okay and would like you to accompany us on our way to get Karlo.”   
Caesar looks at him happily, “Really? You’d like me to come with you?” Caesar then looks at Gusto with suspicion, “But why?”   
Gusto chuckles, “I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself, everyone deserves a second chance.”   
Caesar smiles sweetly, “Thank you, Mr. Tahara.”   
They both look at Mary, her progress on healing Joseph is nearly finished.   
Caesar glances at Gusto, “By the way, who’s Karlo?” Caesar notices Gustos’ grim and saddened expression.   
“Karlo.. was my son, who went missing 5 years ago, and is supposedly being held captive by I.P”   
Caesar slowly nods his head, “Is that why you and Manzana are going after I.P?”   
Gusto nods his head.   
Ave Maria stops sucking on Joseph's stomach and slowly dissolved into nothing, the bloodstain on Josephs’ zoot suit is gone, along with his injury.   
Mary exhales sharply, “He was suffering from a stab wound in the torso and a punch in the gut, but fortunately, I healed him, he should wake up any moment now.”   
Gusto walks up to Mary and pats her on the back, “Nice job, Mary. But what about the blood he lost?”  
Mary smirks, “No worries, Mr. Tahara, Ave Marias’ saliva is able to replace his blood cells and reconstruct his skin to patch him up! Any blood he had lost is of no concern.”   
Joseph began to lazily open his eyes, he immediately notices Mary looming over him, “Aw, Mary, I’ve had the weirdest dream. You, Zana and Me had weird, funky powers..” He says tiredly.   
“First of all, it’s ‘You, Zana and I’, also, you weren’t dreaming, now get up, you dope.”   
Joseph groans, “Fiiiiiiiiine, help me up, at least.” He said, stretching his arms out to her. Mary rolls her eyes, and helps Joseph up, “Ow!” Shouts Joseph, “I feel like I’ve been stabbed and punched in the gut!”   
Mary smiles, “Yes, literally.” Joseph looks at her weirdly, “Huh?”   
Mary ignores Joseph, and approaches Gusto, “Mr. Tahara, should we really be out here in the open like this? Pink Noise is still a threat.”   
Gusto snickers, “Pssh, Nah, Pink Noise tucked tail and ran off!” He smiles widely.   
Caesar lightly tugs on Gustos’ poncho, “Uh, Mr. Tahara?”   
Gusto turns to face Caesar, “Yeah?”   
Caesar points at the television, “I wouldn’t say he ‘ran off’.”   
Gusto, Mary, and Joseph look at the television to find Manzana and Pink Noise on the TV. “Woah!” Exclaims Joseph, “Zana’s on TV!”   
Caesar groans, “No, you dolt! Manzana’s in danger!”   
Mary pushes Caesar, “Hey! No one calls my brother a dolt but me!”   
Gusto quickly pulls Mary away from Caesar, “Hey, hey, hey. No fighting! We need to focus on what’s important, and that’s defeating Pink Noise.”   
“But how?” Says Caesar, “We can’t get to him unless he willingly brings us into the TV world.”   
Gusto sighs in irritation, “Dammit! That means that we gotta rely on Manzana on taking him out for now..”   
Mary looks at Gusto with a surprised expression, “What?! Are you saying that we can’t do anything but watch?”   
Gusto sighs defeatedly, “Unfortunately.”   
They sit down on the ground, and watch, with no ability to aid Manzana.


	12. Colored Sounds Part 4

Manzana watches Pink Noise as he oddly dances and prances around like a fool. “The hell are you doing?!” Manzana shouts in frustration, “Are you taunting me?” Manzana tries his best to conceal his confusion and fear from Pink Noise, trying not to show weakness. Pink Noise suddenly stops prancing and dancing and stands perfectly still. Pink Noise gives out a long, painful sigh as a hole suddenly appears in his knee, bleeding out. “Damn it. You know, Manzana Tahara, you have some pretty annoying fuckin’ friends.”   
Manzana inhales sharply, “What?! What do you mean? What did you do?”   
Pink Noise groans annoyingly, “Calm your tits, beaner. Your friends are irritatingly stubborn on not dying! The only reason why I was dancing like a loon was that I was distracting you while I tried to kill your friends.”   
Manzana looks at him with a confused expression, “If you were trying to kill the others, then how were you here?” He asks. Pink Noise scoffs, “I have total control over the television world, remember? All I did was create a doppelgänger, I made him dance around so you won’t get any idea of touching him because if you do, he’d just dissolve.” Explained Pink Noise. Manzana tilts his head, “Wait.. why would you tell me this?”   
Suddenly, awkward silence fills the room as they both look at each other.   
“Shit.” Said Pink Noise.   
“No matter!” Said Pink Noise in an arrogant tone, “Since your friends in the real world were.. overwhelming, I thought to just take you out first! In a world that bends to my will!”   
The entire room suddenly turns into static and Pink Noise suddenly disappears, Manzana hastily looks around, Manzana was nearly overwhelmed with the intense panic, but he kept a cool head and calmed himself down, “It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay.” He quietly says to himself, “I just need to figure out how to manifest Space Oddity correctly..”   
The static suddenly disappears and is replaced with a desert, debris and broken down cars fill the emptiness of the barren desert. Manzana looks both to his left and right, worryingly searching for an attack from Pink Noise. Manzana hears the distant noise of a loud engine from afar, he looks at the direction of the noise and sees a two broken down cars stacked on top of each other, Manzana climbs the stack of the two broken cars, he stands up on the second car and sees three rusty monster trucks with spikes on its hood and suspension, the monster trucks with spray painted black with a purple spray painted skull. The middle monster truck speeds up and takes the lead.   
Manzana hears a distant, hysterical laugh and sees Pink Noise standing on top of the middle trick, “Manzana Tahara! Welcome to the post-apocalypse! Land of leather jackets and sand!” Laughed Pink Noise, “You’re defenseless against me! I already know you cannot use your Psyche! You might as well give your life up!”   
Manzana began to sweat from his forehead, his heartbeats thump quickly as he tries to figure out his next move, “Damn it, I’m hopeless. I’m so incompetent, even Joseph can manifest his Psyche..” Groans Manzana, “How did I do it the first time? When I fought Fernando, how did I first make it appear?” Manzana thought for a while, trying to remember something, anything of significance, “What did dad say? When he was explaining Psyches’... ‘They solely operate on your desire’? What did he mean? Do I need to focus on my desire for Space Oddity to manifest? Even if that’s so, what was my initial desire? Why can’t I remember something so important?” Manzana hits himself on the side of the head as a migraine sets in.   
Manzana suddenly hears the voice of a soft, meek voice.   
“Manzana, do not get so frustrated with yourself..” Said the voice. Manzana looks down and closes his eyes, “What the.. Who is this? Why’re you talking in my head?!” Manzana asks angrily.   
“Do not be so brash, Manzana. I’m your Psyche, your spirit and mind, Space Oddity. I’m speaking to you for I too am frustrated with our situation, but I beg you to remember what was your desire, what was it did you desire before you met your fate?”   
Manzana bangs on his head, “I’m sorry, Space Oddity, I just can’t remember!”   
“Hm. Do you remember what you said when you were dying out at the lemon tree? When your arm was burnt?”  
Manzana slowly nods his head, “Yeah.. maybe.”   
“Do you remember what you said to Fernando before you died?” Asked Space Oddity.  
“I told him..” Manzana tries to remember what he had said to Fernando that day, “I told him that I was determined..?”   
“Yes..” Said Space Oddity, somewhat happily, “What we’re you determined to do?”   
“I told him.. I was determined to kick his ass because I was so pissed.” Said Manzana.  
“Yes Manzana, because of your determination, it brought you back to life. Do you know why?” Asked Space Oddity  
Manzanas inhales sharply and his eyes widen, “Was it because my determination to kick Fernandos’ ass became my desire? Is that why I had my ‘First Wind’?” Said Manzana, hastily.   
“Yes! Oh, yes, Manzana! Your desire is to fight, like your determination to fight Fernando, or like how you say it, your desire was to ‘kick-ass’, I guess.” Space Oddity said happily.   
“My desire was just to fight.. and all this time, I was focusing on a desire to help others. Perhaps I can still help with my desire to fight.”   
Manzana opens his eyes and looks up, to see Pink Noise coming in closer with the two other monster trucks, “I hope you took that time to pray! Because I’m gonna turn you into ground beef!” Laughed Pink Noise.   
Manzana took a deep breath, he tries to focus on his desire to fight, to fight Pink Noise. Manzana felt a slight pain on his back. Space Odditys’ arms suddenly reach out of Manzanas’ backside, it crawls out of his back until its’ body was fully out. Space Oddity lands on the ground, but its’ single tentacle leg brings it upward to appear taller. The pain on Manzanas’ back felt like a terrible aftertaste of expired milk, he massages his back, then notices Space Oddity. “Finally, I’ve gotten you to appear.” Manzana says happily to Space Oddity, “I’m hoping you’ve somehow become stronger while not being in use.”   
Manzana feels a sudden surge of power over his body, he feels as though Space Oddity had gotten stronger.  
Pink Noise notices a strange figure near Manzana, “Hey.. Hey! Who the hell is that?!” Pink Noise yells to Manzana as he arrives at Manzanas’ location, Pink Noise stops the monster trucks to see what Manzana will say.   
“This is my Psyche.” Manzana said cockily, “Apparently, I can summon my Psyche, so now I have a proper defense.”   
Pink Noise began to worry, “Pssh, so what you have a ‘proper defense’? What does that all mean, anyway?” Said Pink Noise, cracking his fingers.  
“It means now I can finally kick your ass with my gravity manipulating Psyche, Space Oddity!” Said Manzana. Space Oddity slowly slithers in front of Manzana.   
Pink Noise chuckles arrogantly, “Heh, that confidence of yours is really buggin’ me. Let’s take it down a couple of notches, eh?” All three of the monster trucks were start up again and began to speed up toward Manzana.   
Manzana jumps down from the pile of cars, Space Oddity still in front of him. “Manzana... I have a way to help you.” Space Oddity said within Manzanas’ mind, “It may sound strange, but please, comply with me.”   
Manzana nods, “Fine, but make it quick! Pink Noise is gonna run me over!”   
“Don’t worry! It’s simple, just have me punch you in the back,” said Space Oddity. “What?! That is strange! Extremely strange! I’ve seen what your punches can do. I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to perform that risk.”   
Space Oddity sighs, “Don’t worry! It’ll launch you upward, freeing you from gravity’s pull, totally dodging Pink Noises’ trucks, and besides, it won’t hurt that much.”   
Manzana rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs, “Fine, just as long as it works.”   
Space Oddity slithers behind Manzana and crouches down, lowering its’ height. Space Oddity puts its fists up and carefully examines Manzanas’ back, “Okay, Manzana, prepare for lift-off!” Said Space Oddity. “That phrase just makes me more anxious.. Can you just promise that it works? Just so then I could feel better with the reassurance?” Manzana thought, worryingly.   
“Stop whining so much! The truck’s coming in close, so hang on to yer pants!”   
The trucks drive closer and closer toward Manzana as the engine menacingly hummed loudly. “Here it comes!” Said Manzana. Space Oddity quickly punches Manzanas’ back twice, and immediately, he’s launched into the air, missing all three of the trucks. Manzana found himself weightless, but he was soaring through the sky with a cool breeze hitting him, his heart sunk when he noticed how far high he went. Pink Noise follows Manzanas’ body with his eyes, and watches in awe, “What the.. What the hell?! That wasn’t supposed to happen! How the hell did you get up in the air?”   
Manzanas’ legs shook and was both scared and filled with ecstasy by soaring through the sky, though, he concealed both emotions, “Simple. I’ve merely launched myself to the sky. I would’ve thought that common sense would’ve discerned that.”   
Pink Noise groans in annoyance, “Are you.. Mocking me?! How dare you?! Don’t forget who’s ruling over this world of television! I can do whatever I want!” Yelled Pink Noise.  
Suddenly, thousands and thousands of armed militia appeared, scattered all over the desert terrain, these militias were armed with deadly modified bolt-action rifles with explosive bullets, all aiming at Manzana.   
Pink Noise, now wearing an odd army general uniform with knee-high black leather boots, a military whip, and a comedically large mustache plastered on his upper-lip.   
“Okay, men!” He said in a scruffy voice, “That flying boy up there is our primary target! Unload all of your magazines on ‘em until he’s riddled with bullets!”   
The militia cocks their guns as they aim directly at Manzana.   
“Shit! This is bad! I’m vulnerable like this!” Thought Manzana.   
Space Oddity manifested in front of Manzana, floating weightlessly along with him. “Space Oddity, can you protect me from the bullets? Is that that a possibility to your power?” Manzana asked, worryingly.   
Space Oddity didn’t say anything and stayed in front of Manzana, eagerly looking at the militiamen.   
“I hope that’s a yes..” Thought Manzana.  
“Okay! You can unload your mags... Now!” Screamed Pink Noise.   
All the militiamen began to shoot their modified rifles at Manzana, but they were unable to hit Manzana due to Space Oddity blocking the bullets by just hitting them with its’ fist. “How is this possible?” Thought Manzana, “Average rifle bullets travel 1,400 miles, for Space Oddity to be able to punch one in mid-air should be nearly impossible!”   
Each time Space Oddity had punched a bullet, it immediately became weightless and slowly ascended.   
“Is Space Oddity able to negate bullets that can travel at such speeds just because I wanted it to ?” Manzana thought, curiously.   
Pink Noise throws the military whip on the ground and rips the large mustache from his lip, “What a waste of time!” Said Pink Noise, “Fuck these militiamen, fuck the monster trucks! You and I, Tahara, One on One.”   
The militiamen disappeared just by Pink Noise thinking about it.  
“Come down here, you big pussy!” Pink Noise yelled from below.   
Manzana sighs, “Finally, a fair fight. Now, how can I get down?” Manzana looks at Space Oddity, who is looking at him too, “Space Oddity, can you remove my weightlessness?”   
Space Oddity snaps its fingers with both of its hands, then pointed downward with its index finger, the force of gravity yanks Manzana down to the ground.   
Manzana yells as he falls down and lands on the rough desert, “Gah! I’m glad I didn’t break anything..” Groans Manzana.   
“Tahara!” Says Pink Noise, “You and I. Your Psyche and Me, let’s fight. Right now.. to the death..” Said Pink Noise in a tired, exhausted tone but in a confident posture.   
Manzana sighs tiredly, “¿En Serio? Fine, but you’ve just signed your death warrant.” Space Oddity slithers in front of Manzana, ready to take Pink Noise on.  
Pink Noise struggles to breathe and stumbles around, “Uh. Excuse me.. Makin’ those monster trucks disappear and creating those militiamen REALLY burnt me out.” Pink Noise says, tiredly.   
Manzana faintly smiles, “Good, he’s tired, that gives me an advantage over him. Just as long he doesn’t use his.. erm.. ‘television powers’ ... Yeah, I bet that’s what it is.” Manzana thought to himself.   
Pink Noise tiredly puts himself in a fighting stance, he exhales through his mouth, “Alright.. Gimme.. your best shot.”   
Space Oddity quickly rushes toward Pink Noise, ready to punch him in the gut, but Pink Noise is just standing still, not acknowledging Space Oddity, only sadly looking down on the ground. “What? Has he entirely given up?” Thought Manzana, “Did he know that his power had tired him out, so he just gave up? This is it?”  
Space Oddity stops in front of Pink Noise and tries to punch Pink Noise in the gut, but his fist merely went through Pink Noise. Pink Noise disappears and dissolves into pink glitter. Space Oddity grabs the glitter and examines it with curiosity and confusion. “What? How did he-... No, don’t tell me..” Manzana said, as he finally realized. Manzana turns around to be immediately socked in the face by Pink Noise. Manzana falls to the floor and Space Oddity disappears. “You absolute imbecile! It was a ruse!” Laughed Pink Noise, “The other me was made from a projection!”   
Manzana caresses his wounded face, “How is that even possible?” He groans. Pink Noise chuckles, “Does it matter? We live in a TV world! Anything’s possible!”   
Manzana scoffs, “Why’d I even bother asking?” He thought to himself.   
“Now..” Said Pink Noise, pulling a gun out of nowhere, “Time for your expiration date.” He aims the gun at Manzana. Manzana glares at him, unimpressed, “Do you realize what you just said was possibly the lamest thing ever?”   
“Oh, Shuddup!” Said Pink Noise.   
Pink Noise shoots at Manzanas’ leg but misses, Manzana saw the opportunity of the miss shot and immediately kicks the gun from Pink Noises’ hand.   
“Hey! That’s unfair!” Whined Pink Noise, pulling out another gun from nowhere. Manzana stands up and is nearly hit by a bullet from Pink Noises’ gun, Manzana immediately takes cover behind a pile of broken-down cars. “Manzana.” Said Space Oddity, “Manzana, you need to have me hit Pink Noise in the chest!”  
“What? Is this some new addition to your gravity manipulation?”   
“Yes, Manzana.” Responded Space Oddity, “But I can't explain it to you now.. But all the information and the ins and outs of this new quirk will be transferred to your mind once you perform it! First, hit Pink Noise in the chest!”   
Pink Noise still shot at where Manzana was hiding, unloading his entire magazine until his gun began to click, “Damn, outta ammo.” Pink Noise said to himself, magically pulling out a mag of bullets from his back.   
The opportunity has represented itself and Manzana took it, he ran out of his cover and rushed toward Pink Noise.  
“Woah, Woah, hey!” Shouts Pink Noise, “This ain’t fair! I’m still reloading!”   
Pink Noise was immediately shut up from a punch to the face by Manzana, Pink Noise staggered, leaving enough time for Space Oddity to appear.   
Manzana quickly steps back, allowing Space Oddity to manifest in front of Manzana and to face Pink Noise.   
“Now, Space Oddity! To the chest!” Commanded Manzana.   
Space Oddity punched Pink Noise in the chest hard enough for him to fall backward.   
Pink Noise groans painfully but fell silent.   
Pink Noise silence was broken by his loud, obnoxious chuckling, “Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Wow!” Said Pink Noise, “Y’know, with a punch with that knockback..” Pink Noise slowly stood up, staggering only by a little bit, “I was expecting it to hurt.”   
“Huh?” Manzana thought to himself, “There’s no way that it had no effect. My own Psyche wouldn’t lie to me.. right?” Manzana thought to himself, his head began to hurt.   
“Gah, this headache just made matters worse..” Thought Manzana, he began to hear voices in his head, instructing and explaining something to him.   
“What the? These voices.. is this what Space Oddity meant about the information transfer? Wait, does this mean the ability is already in effect?” Manzana thought to himself. He ceased himself from thinking to listen intently to the voice, explaining what the new power can do.   
Pink Noise stopped staggering and was standing up straight, “Alright! Since I’m not struggling to balance myself anymore, I’m ready to keep going at it!” Pink Noise awaited for Manzanas’ response but was soon disappointed, “Uh.. Hello? Aren’t we gonna.. you know, keep on going at it?”   
Manzana snickers and smiled at Pink Noise, “What’s the point of continuing fighting?”   
Pink Noise tilts his head in confusion, “Huh? The hell you mean? What’re you talking about, dammit.” Said Pink Noise, irritated.   
“Do I really want to repeat myself? What’s the point of fighting?” Said Manzana, walking toward Pink Noise, “If you’ve already lost?”   
Pink Noise suddenly feels a strong pain in his chest, “Wha- What the hell did you do?!” Said Pink Noise.  
“Before I answer your question, I want you to answer mine.” Said Manzana, “Do you know what gravity is?”   
Pink Noise clenches his fist tightly, “What!? Of course, I know what it is! It’s like, the thing that keeps us on earth!” Replied Pink Noise, now angry.   
“Gravity is an invisible force that pulls objects toward each other.” Said Manzana. Pink Noise rubs his foot against the sand in frustration, “So what? What’re you going with this?”   
Manzana sighs, “What I’m trying to say is that when I punched you in the chest, I’ve made you have a mass greater than the earth’, therefore the gravitational pull toward you is extremely strong.”   
Pink Noise begins to notice the broken down cars and debris slowly inch toward him.   
“In short,” Said Manzana, “You’re basically a glorified magnet.”   
Suddenly, the debris and cars flew right toward Pink Noise, squishing and crushing him.   
“What the fuck?! No! I feel my fuckin’ bones breaking!” Pink Noise yelled in pain. The barren desert suddenly transforms into a bustling city setting.  
“Wha- What?!” Said Pink Noise, “The cars are still crushing me! I thought changing the TV set would’ve fixed this problem!”   
He then quickly changed the setting to a snowy mountain that is currently experiencing a blizzard.  
“What’s happening?” Manzana thought to himself, shivering in the cold, “Is he panicking now? He knows it’s already the end for him, no matter how much he tries, the cars and debris will still be crushing him.”   
The setting continuously switched to different settings of multiple places, but the frequent change of setting, rooms, and places eventually just turned into static, making it difficult to determine which location Pink Noise was switching to. But no matter Pink Noises’ efforts, his bones were still being crushed.  
Manzana felt his eyesight become hazy, and he became dizzy. Manzana hears the last of Pink Noises’ screams and pleads for help until he finally hears a loud, uncomfortable squishing sound, after that, his vision became blinded by a white light.   
“This is it.” Thought Manzana, “Defeating Pink Noise had to have let me back into reality.. It has to.”   
Manzana felt his face numbing and his ears ringing, but he finally sees the blinding, white light fading away as he sees somewhat familiar faces, though a bit blurry.   
The ringing immediately stops and his vision becomes clear, he finally finds himself back in the hotel room with his group all staring at him.   
“Did he just come outta the TV?” Asked Joseph.  
Caesar immediately rushes to Manzana, helping him up by his arm, “Manzana Tahara! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Asked Caesar. Once Manzana was helped up by Caesar, he immediately pulls his arm away from Caesar, “I’m fine.” Manzana says to him, coldly.   
“Zana!” Said Joseph, “How was it? You know, being in a TV? Was it like here? Did it feel weird?”  
Manzana smiles faintly, “It wasn’t all too special, it was exactly like reality, so don’t expect anything ‘cool’ happened.”   
Joseph sighs grudgingly, “Zana, how dare you lie! We’ve been watching you in the TV! It’s not fair that you get all the excitement!”   
“Oi,” Suddenly said Gusto, “Are you guys done talking? We still got a problem.” Gusto points at something that is concealed from Manzana, due to Gustos’ tall height blocking the point of interest. Caesar, Joseph and Mary first look at whatever Gusto was pointing at before Manzana does, “Are you fucking kidding me?” Says Joseph. “Is this a joke?” Then says Caesar. “This shouldn’t have been possible.” Finally said Mary.   
Manzana lightly pushes Caesar to the side to take a look at what they were looking at, to see Pink Noise on the ground, wallowing on the ground, groaning in pain.   
“Hey, let’s kick ‘em while he’s down!” Suggests Joseph, getting ready to kick Pink Noise. “No, no, no! Kicking someone while they’re defenseless is cowardly. Also, we need information from him and find his user.”   
Joseph nods, “Alright, Alright, I hear ya, Mr. Tahara.” Joseph proceeds to kick Pink Noise, “Where’s your user?” He interrogates. “Ow! Please, stop! I can’t handle this abuse anymore!” Pleaded Pink Noise, his voice breaking, “I’ll tell you whatever, just don’t kill me, please!”   
Gusto crouches down, “Okay, if that’s the case, then who’s your user? Or what’s your actual identity?”   
Pink Noise nods quickly, “Okay! My name’s actually Calvin, I was that kid from the reception room who tried to hit on that beaner chick.”   
Joseph kicks Pink Noise again, “You best watch your mouth, cunthead!”   
“Okay, so you’re the kid from downstairs, eh?” Said Gusto, “Alright, we’ll be givin’ you a visit.”   
Gusto stands up, motions the group to go outside, then leaves the hotel room.   
Both Caesar and Mary follow Gusto first with Manzana following behind them, Joseph quickly kicks Pink Noise in the head before finally following behind Manzana.  
They quickly make their way downstairs and enter the reception room, but the elderly receptionist is nowhere to be seen, “That Calvin kid first came out of the door that was behind the desk.” Said Manzana, “We should enter there first.”   
Gusto first approaches the door and tries to twist the knob. It’s locked. “Ah, hell with it.” He mutters, Gusto grabs out his gun and shoots the knob twice, breaking it off from the door. Gusto hastily opens it with the children behind him, but he only finds a single bed on the left with a nightstand next to it, and a large, wooden desk to the right of the room with a computer on top of it.   
The most notable things were Calvin covered in blood and sulking on the ground, along with the two elderly receptionists, dead. “Shit..” Gusto muttered, “You.. You killed them, didn’t you, Calvin?”   
“I’m sorry..” Said Calvin, with his voice breaking, “I’m sorry, I had to.”  
“I doubt you did, Calvin..” Said Gusto, “Tell me, Calvin, what drove you to do this? Why’d you attack us and kill the two receptionists? Can you answer me that, Calvin?”   
“I had to kill you guys and my grandparents.. There.. There was a reward to be handed out.”   
“A reward?” Said Caesar. Gusto hushes Caesar, “What ‘reward’? Did that ‘reward’ drive you to do this?”   
“Yes.” Said Calvin, “It was an advertisement online, it said that it’ll give a reward of over a million dollars to those who could kill five specific people.”   
Gusto nods, “Uh Huh, can you maybe show me the ad?”   
“Mhm..” Said Calvin, “I have it bookmarked.”   
Calvin slowly stands up.  
The kids immediately and quickly back away from Calvin, anticipating an attack.  
Calvin looks at them, sadly, “Please, don’t worry. I’m no longer a threat, I’m now unable to summon Pink Noise.”   
Gusto looks at him, curiously, “Hm? Why’s that?”   
“The ad will explain it to you better than I could, I would just ramble on..” Said Calvin as he walked toward the computer.   
Calvin opens his bookmarks and clicks on a link that lead to the ad, the group quickly gathered to look at the ad.   
It read,   
“Hello! As you may have heard, there has been a strange phenomenon that has taken the world by storm! And wouldn’t you love the chance to acquire the strange power to manifest strange entities before your very eyes? If the answer is yes, then you’ve found the opportunity! Only if you meet one requirement, kill 5 individuals that have the powers to manifest these entities, including anyone close to you, which means relatives and friends.  
First, you must sign a contract that says that you will kill these people, then you will be blessed with the powers to summon these entities, but, they only last for 2 months, which is long enough to find these targets and kill them. And you must be asking, ‘What if this is a scam?’ Well, how can it be a scam if I’m not asking you for money? All that is needed is your name and blood sample in order to give you the ability of these entities.   
If you’ve successfully killed these 5 targets, then you will be gifted 1 million dollars if you fail, then you will be robbed of your power.   
If you’re interested, don’t be shy to sign up! The sign up is the link below the text! ~ I.P” 

“So, you saw this ad and thought it to be true?” Asked Gusto.   
“Not really..” Calvin says weakly, “I’ve only clicked actually complied because I wanted to see if it was true since it wasn’t really scamming me out of anything.”   
Calvin then clicks on the link below the body of text, revealing more text. 

“If this text has appeared then that means that you’ve allowed us to sample your blood, and because of your compliance, we’ve modified your blood sample and sent it back, after you’ve received the returned sample, you must inject it back into your body, once you have done that, please read the following, for they describe your targets and their abilities.   
There are 4 male targets, one has messy hair and a red overcoat that has the ability to manipulate gravity. One has fluffy hair that is currently wearing a zoot suit that can make anyone feel intense fatigue. One has red hair and an 80’s haircut, they can manipulate blood and do whatever they like with it. The last one can make any bullet ricochet from any surface. The last target is a female that can heal wounds, no matter how fatal.   
Be sure to kill all 5 of these targets and send proof of their deaths by decapitating their heads, afterward, you will be sent the money in a short amount of time.   
Remember, if you fail, you will be robbed of your power. Do not fail. ~I.P” 

Below the text was multiple pictures of Manzana, Joseph, Mary, Gusto, and Caesar taken from a long distance and even up close, so close, in fact, it seemed that the photographer was right next to them when they took the picture.   
“How... bizarre.” Muttered Caesar.   
“What the?!” Said Joseph, “How did they get so up close?! If I saw someone take a picture of me that close, I would’ve socked them in the face!” Joseph continued to ramble on until his rants turned into gibberish.   
“Hm? Mr. Tahara,” Asked Mary, “I thought it was only possible to get a Psyche from very specific requirements?”   
“That..” Said Gusto, nervously, “That should be the only way to get one, there shouldn’t be any other way.” Gusto wipes the sweat off his forehead, “There shouldn’t..” He mutters quietly. “This I.P guy must know a lot about us.” Said Manzana, “Even though we haven’t even met him yet.”   
Gusto begins to make his way out of the door, “Come on, we’re leaving.” Gusto adjusts his hat, “That online ad should be a warning because that means that anyone other than Calvin could’ve gotten their Psyche from I.P and going after us right now. We need to leave, now.”   
Caesar looks at Calvin, then at Gusto, “What about Calvin?”   
Gusto looks at Caesar, “Sadly, we can’t keep him alive.”   
Mary looks at Gusto, shocked, “What? What do you mean, Mr. Tahara? Are you actually going to kill him?”   
“Yes.” Gusto says sorrowful, “Fortunately, actions have consequences. Calvin had committed assault and premeditated murder, he mustn’t be kept alive.”   
Mary gasps, “Mr. Tahara! That’s barbaric! All life is sacred, sir!”   
Gusto sighs, “I don’t think Calvin had the same ideas as you.” He glances at the two dead bodies.   
“Hold on, Mr. Tahara!” Pleaded Mary, “Why can’t we just call the police? They’ll just take him to jail!”   
Gusto scoffs, “The police arrival will take a chunk out of our time in getting to Cancun, and besides, they’ll give him the death penalty anyway. No one gets away with murder, Mary.”   
Gusto motions the kids to leave the reception area, “Go outside, now.” Said Gusto.   
The kids comply and leave, they wait for him outside the hotel.   
“Geez, what a day..” Sighs Joseph, “And it’s already afternoon.”   
Joseph notices Mary, who’s shaking strangely.   
“Why would Mr. Tahara kill him? Calvin was but a child..” Mary says quietly, “Even if Calvin wasn’t the greatest person, his life was still sacred.” She said sadly.  
Manzana approaches Mary and puts his arm over her to comfort her, “It’s okay, Mary. My father doesn’t understand or agree with the ideals of others, it’s just.. how he is.”   
“I know.. I know.” Says Mary, “I just pray that life wouldn’t be tossed around so carelessly by one's judgment.”   
Suddenly, the crack of a gun booms loudly from inside the reception, Mary instantly jumps and tightly holds onto Manzanas’ torso, shaking.   
Manzana looks at Mary, not knowing what to do from her sudden action, “Uh.. it’s alright, Mary. Life.. uh.. comes and goes?”   
“You don’t really know how to comfort someone, huh?” Says Caesar, glaring start the both of them.   
Manzana scoffs, “Why do you care?” He whispers to Caesar.   
“Because I’m allowed to tag along with your group, Manzana Tahara.”   
“Oh really?” Said Manzana, “Since when?”   
Caesar smirks faintly, “Since your dad believes in second chances.”   
Joseph approaches both of them once he hears this, “Bullshit! Mr. Tahara doesn’t believe in second chances, no way! Don’t you remember? He’s literally not giving someone a second chance right now.”   
Manzana scoffs again, “Whatever..”   
They immediately fall into silence once Gusto exits the reception, “I’m sorry I took long.” Said Gusto, “I was paying my respects to the two elders.”   
Gusto looks around, then at Manzana, “Oh yeah, Caesar is joining us to Cancún, I hope you guys don’t mind.”   
“What?!” Shouts Joseph, “Uh, yeah, we definitely DO mind, Gusto!”   
Gusto sighs tiredly, “Aw, c’mon, don’t throw a tantrum over it!”   
“But..” Stammers Joseph, “But he almost killed us!”   
Gusto shakes his head and wiggles his finger at him, “Tch, Tch, Tch. No, no, no. Bloody Sunday almost killed you, Caesar Guadalupe certainly did not.”   
“So?” Said Mary, “That doesn’t mean my opinion of him will just suddenly change, Mr. Tahara”   
Gusto looks at them with annoyance, “Quit whining! We need to get to our next locale.”   
Mary scoffs.   
“Alright.. So we’re in Los Diablos... We travel South to Long Beach, we’ll rent an RV and continue to travel to San Diego, where we’ll eventually pass the border. How’s that sound?”   
Caesar gives him a thumbs up while the others give him no reaction, not even a mean look.   
“Okay, good! Get comfortable with each other, it’ll be a long walk.” Said Gusto, he begins to walk South with the children following behind him.


	13. I.P

“Do you hear that?” Spoke a deep, growly voice, “Manifestations are happening all over the world. The first phase had been completed.”   
“Do you really think that Manzana Tahara believed the note?” Spoke another voice in a calm, steady voice.  
“He has to. Or else, this would be almost a complete waste of time.” Spoke the deep voice again.  
“How many manifest-users have you hired for this job?” Asked the soft-spoken voice, “Do you think that they’re incompetent? Do you think we should’ve hired more?”

“I don’t think they’re either incompetent nor competent. What matters is that Manzana Tahara becomes powerful enough to have a fair fight against me.” Responded the rough voice.   
“How about Gusto Tahara? What if he were to join him?” Asked the soft voice.  
“If Gusto Tahara were to join him, then the goals for this plot is already completed.” Responded the rough voice  
“Why is it that you want to kill the Tahara’s?” Asked the soft voice again.  
“The Tahara’s are disgusting leeches that’s rotten history for years.” The rough voice responded quickly, “Even dating back to the 1800s, Tahara’s were scumbags, robbing banks and trains, murdering and mugging folks. I won’t fully tell you why I have such a distaste for Tahara’s. All that matters is that they’re dead.”   
“When will we put the second phase into action?” Asked the soft voice.  
“Right now, we’ve arrived at our destination.”   
A man dressed sharply in a white business suit with a black coat over it and white gloves wakes up in an airplane, he rubs his eyes and puts on square rimmed sunglasses and stands up.  
He waits for the other passengers on the plane to leave before he does.   
Once the passengers have left, the man leaves his seat and walks down the stair that leads up toward the airplane, he leaves the airport and walks through a bustling city.   
“So, this is China?” The man said to himself.  
“Apparently.” Spoke the rough voice in his head, “Don’t get too fascinated with the place, remember what we came here to do.”   
The man began walking through the thousands of people walking around and running through the city, “What happened here? Why are there so many people?” Asked the man.  
“Not sure...” Said the voice, “All these people might make the plan difficult, don’t be distracted by them.”  
The man cracks his neck, “Yeah, yeah. I got it.”   
The man kept walking through the city and bumped into a news reporter, but the reporter seemed busy with the story he was reporting to notice the man.   
“Louis Giorgio from Channel 6 news here, reporting from China! Ever since the sudden surge of these ‘powers’ had appeared all over the globe, China had decided to take action and execute or capture anyone with these powers, including police officers who were affected by this surge, because supposedly, The Chinese government think that anyone with these powers is inhuman and should be put down. Look! They’re about to publicly execute by law enforcement!”   
The cameraman filming Louis quickly shifted the camera’s focus to a group of police officers pointing guns at a group of citizens with their hands raised high.   
“Please, don’t do this. We’re not harmful! You don’t have to do this!” Begged a crying woman to one of the police officers, they only stared coldly at her before gunning her down, along with the rest of the citizens.   
The cameraman quickly points the camera at the ground, closing his eyes shut to regain his composure.  
After taking a breather, the cameraman points the camera back at Louis. Louis, who’s still looking at the dead bodies, finally realizes the camera is back at him and clears his throat.  
“Ahem, well, uh. Cut the tape, man.” Louis says quietly to the cameraman.   
The cameraman quickly shuts off the camera and sighs, “This shit’s too much, man.” He said to Louis  
The man watched as the cameraman walked out of the area with Louis, leaving a small gap between person to person, revealing to gunned civilians to the man, blood ran down their bodies and into sewer drains, the bodies were quickly discarded as the officers hurled the bodies into the back of a truck that was already almost filled with dead bodies.  
“What a tragedy..” Spoke the rough voice, “These people are deserving of their fate, wouldn’t you agree?”   
The man nods his head and begins walking toward the police officers.   
“Hey! Back away, now!” Commanded the police officers once the man got close.  
The man just continued walking toward the officers, paying no attention to them, the police officer aims his gun at the man, “Hey! I said to get back!”   
The man finally looked at the officer and squints at him through his glasses.   
“Hey, just open fire. We have to get moving.” Said one of the other officers.   
The police officer nods at the other officer then looks back at the man and puts his finger lightly on the trigger.  
Red smoke begins to irradiate from the mans’ back, both torsos and arms begin to manifest, then finally a head had finally manifested.

The Psyches’ muscly, gray legs with white webbings over it oddly moves toward and backward from the police officers, gently placing its’ foot on the ground and hastily picking it back up with its legs like a disjointed ballerina, it moves in a circle oh so elegantly as if it were performing a show.  
The Psyches’ gray torso with white webbings over it, and a shattered, ocean blue breastplate over its torso. Small, but noticeable ocean blue, shattered shoulder pads placed over the Psyches’ shoulders.   
Its’ body gracefully following its’ legs pattern as it danced with such gentle passion, bending and twisting its body to follow along its legs.   
Its’ arms and hands follow the same color scheme as its torso and legs with the exception of dull, rusty blue brass knuckles over thin, dark leathered gloves. The arms fly through the wind with grace and intuition, following where his legs go along with his torso. Despite its grace, its wrists and hands constantly disjointing, they’re constantly twisting in odd directions, snapping and cracking, his fingers elongating and unnaturally bending backward as if it had no bone.   
The Chinese citizens watch as the Psyche danced in front of them, not only does it’s odd dancing and hand movements confuse the Chinese citizens, but it’s face.  
Its’ expressionless, gray robotic face mimicking one of a humans face.  
Its cold, unchanging expression fills the Chinese citizens and officers with unease and discomfort, its’ widened, dark yellow, monochromatic eyeballs coldly stare at absolutely nothing. A white, metal hood is ingrained on top of its head, with a blue cloak with a large white cross imprinted on the cloak, wrapped around its back.

One of the Chinese police officers approach another officer, “Hey, that man has one of those strange powers... I need you to arrest that man and execute him.” He whispers to one of the police officer.

The other Chinese police officer nods and nervously approaches the Manifest, “H-hey! Stop that!” He stammers, “I’m warning you!”  
The Psyche instantly stops dancing and looms over the Chinese police officer with its’ freakishly long height.   
“I-I..Uh..” Stammers the police officer.  
The Psyche harshly grabs the police officer by the face and crushes his head with one clench of its hand.   
“Hey! Oh, shit... Open fire on that guy! He’s a threat!” Commanded an officer.  
Before they could put their fingers on the trigger of their guns, the Psyche had planted its palm on the ground, as its hand was on the ground the earth below them began to shake...


	14. The Day the Earth Shook

The group continues to travel from the hotel that was in the middle of nowhere, to Long Beach, California, in hopes of getting a faster form of transportation on their way to Cancún.   
They continue their walk in an extremely hot, almost empty desert. The only things keep it from being empty is the extremely small and rural towns.   
Joseph groans obnoxiously loud, “Damn this heat! How long have we been walking?” Said Joseph, already out of breath by talking. He breathes in deeply, “We’ve must’ve been traveling for 4 hours now..”   
Gusto chuckles, “Heh, Nah, we’ve only been walking for 15 minutes.” He replied.   
Joseph looks at Gusto with a bewildered expression, “What? You’re pulling my leg, Mr. Tahara! ..right?”   
Gusto doesn’t say anything to Joseph, he only shakes his head with a smile.  
Joseph moans tiredly.   
Josep glances at both Mary and Gusto, “How can you guys not feel obligated to take off your ponchos? It’s at least 120 degrees.” Joseph looks at Mary, “Mary, you’ve been wearing that same poncho for 2 days, man!” He says to her.  
Mary rolls her eyes, “I obviously haven’t had the time to knit a new one, Joseph. Can you just shut up?”   
Joseph sticks his tongue out at her without her noticing.

Joseph hums a catchy tune as they walk, “Big Shiner, Big Shiner. Something, something, somethin’ with a Big Shiner on his hip. Big Shiner on his hip!” Joseph said loudly. “That’s not how the song goes.” Said Caesar, walking at the same pace as Joseph.  
Joseph glances at Caesar, “Huh?” He says.   
“He didn’t say ‘Big Shiner’, he said ‘Big Iron’.” Said Caesar.  
Joseph glares at Caesar with a mean look, “Oh shuddup, of course, he said Big Shiner. Everyone knows he says Big Shiner! You’re just making shit up, cunt.”   
Caesar groans, “No, you idiot. Marty Robbins calls the Arizona Rangers gun the ‘Big Iron’. I’m not making stuff up, you’re just dumb.”   
“Arizona Ranger?” Manzana suddenly says to Caesar, “I thought the song was just about a gun.”  
Caesar inhales sharply from his nose, surprised that Manzana is engaging in a conversation with him, “Well.. well...” Stammers Caesar, “If you actually listened to the lyrics.. Oh! Uh, no offense! But uh, the song is actually about a Ranger who’s going to kill a guy called Texas Red. And so the Ranger has a gun called Big Iron, and he uses it to kill Texas Red.”   
“That’s it?” Replies Manzana  
“Well, uh..” Caesar stuttered, “I don’t really know what kinda story you were expecting from some song.”   
Manzana nods his head, “Hey, I kinda wanted to ask you something.”   
Caesar glances at Manzana, “Hm?”  
“What’s up with your Psyches’ name? Wasn’t ‘Bloody Sunday’ also the name of a massacre?”   
Caesar was about to answer Manzana before Mary suddenly interrupts him, “Yes, Bloody Sunday was one of the names for the Bogside Massacre in Northern Ireland. On January 30th, British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians and killed 14 that were protesting.”  
“Whatever, who cares?” Says Joseph, “None of that information matters, the only thing that does matter was that Marty Whats-his-face sang the word Big Shiner. Come on ‘Zana, prove me right.”   
Manzana shakes his head at him, “Nope. He sang ‘Big Iron’, not whatever you were thinking.”   
Joseph sighs defeatedly, “Nice going, Zana.” He whispers to Manzana, “You made me look like a total fool, man..”   
They continued their long walk to Long Beach, but they all abruptly stopped when they felt the ground below them began to shake.   
“Shit.. Uh, guys? The ground’s frickin’ shaking, is a Psyche-user makin’ the ground shake?”   
“No! Of course not.” Says Gusto, “It’s just an earthquake. Just keep calm, luckily, we’re not near any buildings right now, we’re practically in a wasteland until we get to Long Beach!”   
The group struggles to keep standing as the ground violently shakes below them, eventually, Joseph collapses and struggles to stand back up.   
“God! Is Mother Nature trying to make me puke?! How long is this earthquake?!” Complained Joseph.   
“Strange..” Stammers Mary, “Earthquakes don’t last this long, or are this violent.”   
Eventually, Caesar also collapses to the ground and cannot stand back up.   
“Gah!” Shouts Caesar, “My entire body’s vibrating, I can feel my brain being tossed around in my skull.”   
Mary feels her phone vibrate in her back pocket, despite the intense vibration of the earthquake. Mary, with a shaky arm, tries to grab her phone out of her pocket to see what’s notifying her. She sees a World-Wide alert notification that reads “ATTENTION: A RECORDING FROM SPUTNIK 1 HAS BEEN REVEALED SHOWING THE ENTIRE COUNTRY OF CHINA SINKING INTO THE OCEAN.”   
“What the?” Stammers Mary, she quickly taps on the notification to see the full alert report.   
She sees a live video showing China sinking into the ocean while small pieces of Russia, Japan, Australia, Spain, and France begin moving toward North America.   
A sound emits from Marys’ phone, the voice of an elderly man.   
“This recording by the Sputnik 1 shows the tectonic plates moving away from their location toward what it seems to be North America.”   
Mary notices the small pieces of the countries begin to move more hastily toward North America.  
Suddenly, a large gap has opened between the borders of Mexica and Mexico. The small pieces of the countries begin to form and connect with each other and create a landform as if it were a new country, a small one, that is.   
The newly created landform then quickly makes its way to the abruptly created gap between Mexico and Mexicana, creating a bridge from Mexicana to Mexico.   
The Sputnik 1’s camera begins to glitch and lag, suddenly, the live feed went dead.   
“Uh.. as it looks like, the Sputniks’ camera has been destroyed by an unknown force.”   
The earthquake abruptly stops, Mary quickly goes to Gusto to show him the feed of the countries moving.   
“Mr. Tahara!” She says to him, “Look, I think I know why there was such a sudden earthquake!” She stammers.   
She rewinds the feed until she gets to the point where China sinks. Mary shows him the feed, the rest gather around him to watch as well, they watch in both shock and horror as China sunk and parts of various countries moved and connected to one another.   
“Hm, I guess that explains the sudden quake..” Mutters Caesar.   
Mary's phone suddenly receives a phone call from an unknown number.   
They all stand there in silence as the phone loudly rang.   
“Well?” Stuttered Joseph, “Answer it!”   
“Right, right..” Stammers Mary, she answers the phone quickly.   
“Heeeelllloooooo!” Says a robotic, feminine voice, “It’s Hazel, the automated phone messenger! Someone has decided o give you a phone message! They say.... ‘You’ve gotten passed the first two hunters, good, at least I know you’re competent. I won’t waste time, but I just want to have you know that I’ve moved the tectonic plates for a reason.. ~I.P’”  
Mary gasps quietly.  
“What?” Says Caesar, covering his mouth, “He’s the one who moved around the countries?   
Mary's phone beeps loudly, “The message has ended! Thank you for being in the service of Hazel, the automated phone messenger!” Hazel says cheerfully.   
The call ends.   
“Looks like we have a real problem on our plate.” Says Manzana, adjusting his red coat.   
Mary gets another notification on her phone, saying that her world-wide map application has been updated.   
She opens her map application to see that what was once the border between Mexica and Mexico was now Russia’s Red Square, Spain’s Magaluf, Australia’s Coober Pedy, Paris’ France, Japan’s Nagasaki, and finally Mexico’s Cancún.   
They all look at her phone in astonishment.  
“Well then..” Caesar says quietly, “I’ve always wanted to visit France.” He says to them   
“We’ve got a long road ahead of us.” Sighs Gusto, “Hopefully it’ll be an easy road once we rent an RV.”   
Joseph nods, “Yeah.. Me too, Mr. Tahara.”   
They all sigh tiredly as they hustle through, and make their way to Long Beach.


	15. First Stop: Lenin’s Mausoleum

The group had finally arrived at Long Beach and immediately looked for an RV rental, luckily, they find a rental called ‘Ocean’s 11 RV Rental’.  
Gusto nonchalantly walks into the RV rental and spots a random clerk.   
Gusto clears his throat, “‘scuse me, can I rent an RV?”   
The clerk nods his head, “Sure,” The clerk walks behind a counter, “How long will ya be renting the RV?”   
Joseph quietly steps in the RV rental, he looks around the shop and finds a candy display with numerous variations of candy hanging on a metal platform that is sticking onto a wall.   
Joseph looks over at the RV clerk to see him distracted by Gusto. Joseph mischievously smiles as he quickly makes his way over to the candy display, swipes 4 chocolate bars and hastily shoved them into his pocket. Joseph speed walks out of the RV rental to meet with the rest of the group.   
Caesar gazes at the clouds while Manzana stares at the dark abyss that is the road.   
Joseph notices Mary gloomily looking at her poncho, she frowns as she analyzes her poncho. Joseph walks up to her, handing her a chocolate bar, “Hey Mary, why the long face?” He asks her, unwrapping a chocolate bar for himself. Mary sadly glances at Joseph and takes the chocolate bar, she gives out a long sigh “Somehow, my poncho got ripped.. see?” She responds with a depressed tone, she shows Joseph a small portion of the poncho that’s ripped.   
“What?” He says, unimpressed, “You’re all depressed ‘cus a small half of yer poncho got ripped?” Joseph sighs, and takes a bite out of his chocolate, “Don't you think yer being overdramatic over some poncho?”   
Mary scoffs and punches Joseph in the arm.   
“Ow!” Joseph loudly exclaims, he caresses his shoulder carefully, “What was that for?” He whined.   
“Do you have any idea how long I knitted this poncho?! This specific one took me 5 hours to make.. 5 hours! It’s more time than you actually paying attention in school.”   
Joseph groans, “Whatever, man. Just don’t complain about your knitting stuff, nothing bores me to death like that stuff.”   
Mary rolls her eyes, “Everything bores you to death, Joseph, eventually, and hopefully, Everything will kill you.”   
Joseph grits his teeth, Super Freak suddenly appears behind Joseph, “Maybe I’ll kill you!” Joseph says, trying to sound menacing.   
Super Freak quickly walks up to Mary, making eye contact with her, Super Freak brings his face close to Mary’s face, smiling at her.   
Mary stares at Super Freak with a blank expression, “Apologies, dear brother, is this supposed to scare me?” Says Mary, staring at Joseph with the same blank expression. Joseph sighs and Super Freak disappears, “Man... You’re no fun, sis.” He pouts, “At least pretend to be intimidated.”   
“Joseph, I love you, but I have too much respect for myself to pretend to be intimidated by you.”   
Joseph sadly stares at the ground.  
He suddenly hears Caesar chuckle. Joseph glances at Caesar, “well laugh it up, redhead.” Joseph says, offended. Caesar chuckles louder whilst looking at Joseph. “Shut up, will you?” Joseph says tiredly.   
Manzana glances at Caesar, then at Joseph and laughs with Caesar while looking at Joseph, “What, what?” Joseph says, confused.  
Mary gives Joseph a quick glance and snickers, “Joseph, your chocolate bar..” She says to him, containing her laughter. Joseph looks at the chocolate bar that he’s holding and sees that it has melted in his hand.   
“What?!” Joseph shouts, enraged, “How friggin’ shitty is this chocolate bar to melt so quickly?!” Joseph groans and throws the chocolate bar to the road.   
Mary breaks down into laughter as Joseph does this, “Joseph, you moron! You can’t just throw a chocolate bar onto the road, you idiot!” She scolds him while laughing.   
Both Caesar and Manzana chuckle while watching Joseph, “That Joseph doesn’t have the best logical resolutions, huh?”   
Manzana smiles, “Nope, Joseph isn’t the brightest, but hell, it’s entertaining as hell.”   
Gusto walks out of the RV rental while spinning keys around his finger, he whistles happily.   
Caesar walks with Gusto as he strolls toward a black RV, “Mr. Tahara, how much was the RV rental?” Asks Caesar.   
Gusto glances at Caesar and stops whistling, “Got it for free.”   
“Free?” Asks Caesar, “How did you get a rental for free?”   
Gusto smiles, “Robbery.”   
Caesar snickers, “Nice joke, Mr. Tahara, but really, how did you get it for free?”   
“Robbery.” Gusto says to Caesar, with a more serious tone.   
“I have a feeling that my dad’s not joking, Caesar.” Says Manzana, following the both of them from behind.   
Caesar looks at Gusto with a shocked expression, “Mr. Tahara! Did you really just commit a crime?!”   
Gusto smiles widely, “It’s not a crime if it’s justifiable, besides, he was being.. problematic.” Says Gusto, scratching his mustache, “But, nothing like a quick hit in the head to fix the problems!” Says Gusto, adjusting his pants. Gusto walks over to a large, black RV and opens the front door with the key in his hand, he then walks in and gets comfortable in the first seat, “Hey, tell the rest of the crew to get in, we have to get to Russia!” He says excitedly.   
Manzana motions Mary and Joseph to get inside the RV, they quickly get in and immediately make themselves at home.   
The RV’s interior colors are somewhat bland and simple with the colors of both white and brown.   
The ground is of white carpet with small brown and blue stains.  
There are two white couches opposite of each other, above the two couches are wide length windows.   
Next to one of the couches are counters facing opposite of each other, the countertop is white while the cupboards are dark brown. One of the counters is a microwave, a coffee brewer, a sink and a toaster.   
In the back of the RV is a brown couch with a window above it, but there’s a door on the left side of the couch which is the bathroom.   
The bathroom consists of a single toilet, shower, and sink, but unfortunately, it lacks a mirror.   
“Huh, this looks surprisingly nice for a shitty RV.” Says Joseph, he quickly runs out of the RV to fetch his duffel bag that he left, once he returns, he tosses the bag to the side and immediately lies down on one of the white couches and moans comfortably, “Oh man, this couch feels so nice.”   
Mary sits on the opposite couch while looking at Joseph, unimpressed.   
“Hm, my guess is that I’ll be reserved for the brown couch in the back,” Caesar says gloomily.   
Manzana notices the sound of snoring, and sees that it’s coming from the front seat, he goes over to his father to see that he’s sleeping!   
“Are you serious?” Groans Manzana, “Dad.” He says to Gusto, “Dad, wake up. Now.” He says louder.   
Manzana groans in annoyance and slaps his father on the cheek, “Dad, wake up!”   
His father remains asleep.   
“Dammit..” Says Manzana, he looks over to the group, “Do any of you know how to drive?”   
Manzana frowns as he sees the entire group collectively shake their heads.  
Manzana nods, “Are any of you at least willing to drive?”   
He frowns again when he sees that they all shake their heads again.   
Manzana turns away from them to look at his sleeping father and sees the circular key chain hanging from his finger, two keys hang from the chain, one of them’s labeled ‘Ignition’ whilst the other is labeled ‘Lock’.   
Manzana grabs the keys from Gusto and turns on the ignition, he faces the group with a somewhat irritated expression, “Can one of you move my father out of the drivers’ seat?” Manzana commands.   
Caesars’ Bloody Sunday suddenly appears in front of Caesar, and saunters over to Gusto, Bloody Sunday grabs Gusto by the arm and puts him over his shoulder.   
Oddly, Bloody Sunday limps as he carries Gusto to the brown couch.   
“Hey, redhead, why’s your Psyche walkin’ like that?” Asks Joseph as he begins to yawn. Caesar shrugs, “I really don’t know. I think it’s because I’ve been feeling really sharp pains on the side of my leg.. Say, Mary, is it ok that you can use Ave Maria to heal my leg? In case it’s injured?”   
Not even giving Caesar a glance, Mary immediately says, “No.”  
“Come on, Mary. Don’t be so rude.” Said Manzana.   
“Oh, no, it’s fine. It’s ok if she doesn’t want to heal me.. I’ll just walk it off..” Assures Caesar, he winces a bit as he speaks.   
Manzana sits on the driver's seat and puts the key labeled, ‘Ignition’ into the ignition and turns it to right.   
The RV begins to faintly vibrate and rumble because of the abrupt start of the ignition.   
“Well then, if we’re gonna hit the already, I’m gonna use the bathroom.” Says Mary as she walks to the bathroom.  
Manzana turns his head to look at the group again, “Do any of you know how to reverse this thing?”   
Joseph sits on the passenger seat and looks at the pedals, “Uh, maybe try the long looking one, they’d save the big looking pedal for the acceleration, right?” Suggests Joseph.   
Manzana doesn’t know if he should take Josephs’ suggestion but doesn’t have any other choice, judging by the fact that he doesn’t know how cars work.   
Manzana sighs, “Alright Joseph, I’ll take your word on it..”   
Manzana presses his foot against the long pedal, the RV immediately goes forward and crashes into the backside of a white RV, Manzana immediately takes his foot off of the long pedal, “So.. that was the gas pedal..” Sighs Manzana as he dips his head into his hands.   
“Did we just hit something?!” Exclaims Mary, who just came out of the RV bathroom.   
Manzana looks up and faces Mary, “Unfortunately..” Manzana turns to face the window, “Ok, the long pedal is the gas, and the big one might be the brake..”   
Manzana lightly but hesitantly places his foot on the big, wide pedal next to the gas pedal.   
Manzana slowly pushes his foot down on the pedal, and slowly, the RV reverses.   
Manzana exhales sharply, “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Manzana says with relief, “Now’s the time to get to Russia.”  
Manzana slowly reverses the RV out of the rentals’ parking lot and onto the road, but he begins to struggle to get the RV onto a lane, thus, blocking lanes with the RV.  
“Dammit! How the hell do you use these things?!” Groans Manzana, “Mary, what’re the directions to Cancún?”   
Mary gets her phone out and opens the map app, “The way to Cancún is now a mile thousand miles away, it says it’ll take about a few weeks or a month.”   
Manzana nods, “What’s in the way of the borders right now?” He asks.   
“Apparently, it’s Russia, Japan, Australia, France, and Spain, not in any order. Our first obstacle in getting to Cancún is Moscow, Russia. The first place we’ll see is someplace called ‘Lenin’s Mausoleum’ which is a.. shrine? I guess it’s a shrine dedicated to a Marxist.” Said Mary with a disgusted tone.   
“Okay.. So, which lane do I go onto?” Manzana notices an upcoming car down the lane on the right side, “Make it fast, Mary. I don’t wanna block anyone in a hurry.”   
Mary stammers, “Uh, get on the lane that’s on your right!”   
Manzana quickly turns the wheel to the right as he stomps his foot onto the gas pedal, the abrupt movement surprises the upcoming car driver and he quickly shifts lanes in panic. During the car driver's abrupt movement, the car itself suddenly tilts over and crashes, landing on the roof of the car.   
Caesar watches the car crash from the back window, “We just killed someone.. didn’t we?” He says, his voice cracking.   
Joseph quickly looks at Manzana with a wild look, “Zana! Step on it! Now!” He shouts in a panic. Manzana stomps his foot on the gas pedal again and speeds off toward Moscow.   
Mary inhales deeply as she worryingly looks at the window in the rear of the RV. She glances at Caesar to see him on his knees with his back straight and eyes closed with his head looking down, he seems to be whispering to himself.   
“You. What’re you doing?” Mary asks him.   
Caesar does not respond and continues to whisper to himself.  
“What?” Joseph says suddenly, “What? What’s he doing?” He asks Mary.   
Mary groans, “I dunno, Joseph. That’s why I asked him.”  
“...Amen.” Caesar says loudly, he opens his eyes and stands up. He looks at Mary, “I’m sorry, were you asking me something?”   
Mary nods, “Uh, yeah, what were you just doing?”   
Caesar sits down on one of the white couches, “My apologies, I was praying to the lord.”   
“The lord?” Said Mary, “Are you religious, Caesar?”   
Caesar nods, “Yes. I’m Christian.”   
“Christian?” Said Mary, “Do you have a Bible on you, Caesar?”   
Caesar faintly smiles and nods, “Of course, I always carry one with me in case I feel distressed, and this is one of those cases..” Says Caesar as he grabs a small bible out of his back pocket.   
“My, my, I haven’t seen a bible so small!” Mary walks up to Caesar to look at the small bible, “You don’t mind if I take a closer look at it?”   
“Of course I don’t mind! Go ahead.” Caesar says happily, “Mary, are you also religious?”   
Mary slowly nods, “I’m also Christian. My, I haven’t read the Bible in quite some time.. You don’t mind if I read this, Caesar?”   
“I don’t mind at all, Mary.” Caesar says happily, “Say, is it ok with you if we can read it together?”  
“Hmm.” Hummed Mary, “I might not be too fond of you, Caesar.. But I don’t mind reading the Bible with you.”  
Joseph snickers loudly, “Damn, you guys forming the ‘Neo Bible Study Group’?”   
Caesar and Mary ignore Joseph and sit down on a white couch and begin to read the Bible silently together.  
Joseph groans, “Great. Now my sister’s softened up to that redhead.. You’re not gonna get vulnerable near that weasel, right Zana?” Joseph says to Manzana.   
Manzana shrugs.   
Joseph sighs loudly, “C’mon, don’t give me a shrug, man. Gimme a straight answer, man!”   
“I don’t really know, Joseph.” Responds Manzana, “Lately, I’ve been thinking about what my father said about giving people second chances, and how it wasn’t Caesars’ fault or doing when Bloody Sunday attacked us. You know, Joseph, Caesar can’t be that bad, he might be a pretty okay guy.”   
“You friggin’ insane, Zana.” Replied Joseph, “Bloody Sunday or not, he still blew up my legs and nearly killed Mary. We would’ve died if your dad hadn’t intervened. I’ll only rely on and be friendly toward Caesar when the world ends.” Scoffs Joseph.  
Joseph turns away from Manzana and glares at the outside through the window.  
“You’re being irrational.” Said Manzana.   
Joseph scoffs, he looks down at the cubby that’s attached to the door and notices a thick, red book. Curious, Joseph grabs the book and reads the title on the front, it reads, ‘The Art of Rock Throwing Martial Arts.’   
“Huh, lengthy title.” Joseph thought to himself.   
He begins reading the book and is instantly hooked.   
“Finally reading a book, Joseph?” Asks Manzana.   
“Shut up,” Joseph replies immediately. Manzana chuckles, “I’m only joking with you, Joseph.”   
They both fall into silence. Now bored, Manzana turns on the radio to fill the silent void, the current song playing is an R&B track from the early 2000s.  
“This song’s ancient, you know.” Says Joseph.”   
Manzana chuckles softly and diverts his attention onto the road as he steadily and carefully stays on the road.   
“Hey, Manzana.” Says Joseph, he closes his book as he looks at him, “Do you believe that all life’s sacred?”   
Manzana glances at Joseph with a confused expression, “Woah, where did this question come from?”   
“I’m just remembering what my sister said after we confronted Pink Noise, and how she thought that all life was sacred, I just wanna know what you think about life.”   
“Well, I think that only some lives are sacred, y’know? Sometimes, there are people who’re deserving of death and those who aren’t deserving of it. But, sometimes, those who don’t deserve it get it anyways, and those who do don’t get it.” Manzana begins to stammer, “What I’m tryna say is that not all lives are sacred. People just need to get what deserve.”   
Joseph nods, “And who’s gonna give them what they deserve?”   
Manzana briefly snickers, “Hm, I dunno, us?”   
Joseph breathes through his nose sharply while smiling, and reopens and resumes his book he was reading until the drive to Moscow is done.   
As Joseph reads the book, he feels his eyes get heavy and begins to feel drowsy, soon, Joseph drifts off to sleep as he instinctively closes the book and lightly sets it on his lap. 

Joseph suddenly wakes up again, his vision blurry, he looks around in somewhat confusion and looks at Manzana, who looks like he’s about to fall asleep.   
“Zana?” Joseph says tiredly, “What time is it?”   
“It’s 4:49 AM, you went to sleep at about... 8 pm.”  
Joseph nods his head, he looks behind the seat and sees Caesar and Mary sleeping on the ground, facing away from each other.   
Joseph sinks to his seat and softly hums to himself, “Hey, Manzana. Are we nearly there yet, man?”   
“We’re almost there, Joseph. About 5 minutes left.” Responds Manzana.   
“20 minutes? How’d you know we’ll be there in 20?”   
“I used Marys’ phone for directions.” Said Manzana.   
“Mary’s phone? I thought you knew where Lenin’s Museum was.” Said Joseph. “First, It’s Lenin’s Mausoleum. Second, a part of Moscow was literally dragged in front of the Mexica border, I have no way to actually know which directions to go for a location I’ve never been to.”   
Joseph raspberries with his lips, “Whatever, you’re just making up excuses for taking so long.”  
Manzana sighs, “Can you not be an annoying person while I’m trying to drive? Doing this is more stressful than you might think.”   
Joseph sinks further into his seat and yawns loudly, “Since we’re nearly there, should I wake the others?”   
“No need to.” Said Caesar from behind the front seats. Joseph looks back to see both Caesar and Mary awake. Caesar is trying to operate the coffee brewer while Mary watched him, quietly giggling each time Caesar becomes confused by the brewer.   
“Whatever. I wasn’t going to anyway.” Replied Joseph. He looks back at the window and sinks further into his seat, his torso stays on the seat, slightly pulling up his shirt, while his legs remain idle on the bottom.   
“Can you at least wake my dad, Joseph?” Asked Manzana.   
Joseph slowly nods and struggles to get out of his seat. Once Joseph got out, he briefly adjusts his shirt and quickly glances at Mary and Caesar and notices that Mary’s enjoying being around Caesar more than he’d like her to be.   
Joseph walks up toward a sleeping Gusto and pokes him on the cheek. No reaction. Joseph then pokes Gusto in the gut. No reaction. Joseph sighs, there’s only one solution, he takes his index finger and puts it into his mouth, he takes it out of his mouth and slowly put it up to Gustos’ ear, “Please don’t be mad, Mr. Tahara.” Joseph said to himself before doing the deed.   
Joseph plugs his wet finger into Gustos’ ear, for better or for worse, Gusto still doesn’t react to it.   
“Uh, Zana? Is your dad dead?” Shouts Joseph.   
“Mr. Gusto Tahara hasn’t passed yet, his blood is still floating, the heart’s still thumping, and the brain’s still operational.” Said Caesar with a smug tone.   
“I wasn’t asking you, weasel.” Joseph said to Caesar, “I dunno why you say it so arrogantly, the normal person would know he’s still alive just by looking at his stomach go up n’ down ‘cuz of his breathing.”   
“I’m surprised you even figured that out.” Replied Caesar with a slight smirk.   
“Hey, c’mon, chill out..” Mary said to Caesar. “Oh, can you shut up, redhead?” Joseph said angrily, he begins to walk toward Caesar, “All you do is talk, talk, talk, but you don’t do anything that actually contributes or aids this group, why bother coming with us? Do you even know why we’re going after I.P? Even if you do, I bet you don’t even care, and that you’re only coming for the hell of it, and not to actually help Manzana, dipshit.”   
“Hey, can you guys’ stop quarreling?” Said Manzana, the RV come’s to a halt, “It looks like we’ve arrived.”   
The three of them walk toward the front seats and look through the window, looking at various buildings with Russian text, but what’s strange is that the area seems to be devoid of snow.   
“Where’s all the white shit?” Asked Joseph. “Maybe the sudden change of locations from Europe to North America caused severe weather change.” Said Mary, “That could explain the lack of any snow.”   
Caesar glances at the RV’s fuel gauge and makes a confused expression, “Manzana? Have you been paying attention to the fuel?”   
“The what?” Asked Manzana.   
“The fuel! Look, it’s almost empty.” Said Caesar, pointing at the fuel gauge.   
“Well, shit..” Said Manzana, “I guess I had my eyes a little bit too focused on the road.”   
“Dang.. Do you think anyone here has any gas on them?” Said Mary.   
“This is Russia, they’re probably carrying gas on their back pocket,” Joseph said to Mary.   
Manzana chuckles, “If that’s the case, let’s hop off the RV.” Manzana stands up from the front seat and makes his way to the door. “Manzana!” Caesar said abruptly, “You’re not actually gonna ask some citizens if they have gasoline on their back pocket, right?”   
Manzana gives Caesar a confused look, “Caesar.. It was an obvious joke.”   
Joseph purposely bumps into Caesar's shoulder and smirks at him, “Yeah Caesar, it was an obvious joke. Learn to spot one, dingus.”   
Manzana opens the RV door and allows Joseph to leave first, he follows behind him, but before he leaves the RV, he looks at Caesar and Mary, “Hey, you guys wanna tag along? It might help to get gasoline faster.” He says to them.   
“Wait, we’re actually-“ Said Caesar, before being interrupted by Mary, “Of course we’ll tag along, Manzana. I didn’t want to join just to dawdle in some RV, right, Caesar? You didn’t join us just to stay in some RV, right?” Said Mary.   
Caesar sighs, “Sure.” He says tiredly.   
They all walk out of the RV and huddle around each other. “Okay, so right now we need to find gasoline for the RV, I feel as though we should split into groups of 2 to speed up the process, when you’re done, just wait outside of the RV, I’ll probably frequently check the RV to see if you’ve found something.”   
Joseph nods, “Okay, if we’re gonna be split up in two groups, then I call infinity beyond dibs on being partners with Caesar.”   
Manzana sighs, “Fine. Mary and Caesar will be in a group, then you and I.” Said Manzana, “Mary and Caesar will go East, and Joseph and I will try to talk to people near that statue.” Manzana points at a somewhat rusty and dirty statue of a well-dressed man.  
“Oh, that’s the statue of Vladimir Lenin, Russia’s ‘greatest’ communist.” Said Mary, rolling her eyes.   
“Alright, Joseph and I will go over to the Lenin statue. Let’s find some gasoline before evening.” Said Manzana, he immediately walks toward the statue, Joseph briefly inhales sharply as he’s surprised by Manzanas’ abrupt movement.   
“Well then, let’s head East,” Caesar says to Mary.   
They both begin walking East, looking for whoever might have gasoline on them or a gas station. 

Once arriving near the statue, Manzana scouts around the area and sees a well-dressed man sitting in a table, sipping on a cup of tea. Oddly, the man looks similar to the statue man. The well-dressed man glances at Manzana, then quickly glances down. Manzana notices this and sees that he says something under his breath. Manzana approaches the man, he seems extremely surprised.   
“Excuse me, do you know English or Spanish, sir?” Manzana asks the man as politely as he can.   
Despite Manzana’s effort in sounding inoffensive and harmless, his tone comes across as demanding and somewhat intimidates the man.   
“Nazhmite Apple!” The man says in a thick, Russian accent.   
“I’m sorry, sir.” Said Manzana, “It looks like you’re full-on Russian, sorry for the bother.” Manzana begins to walk away toward Joseph, but the man stops him. “No, no, I’m a bit good on English, you just caught me off guard. What do you need?” Asked the Russian man. “I’m just wondering if you have any gasoline or know a nearby gas station.”   
The Russian man stammers, “Sorry, child. I have no gasoline at the moment, neither is there any gas station nearby. Are you out of gas?”   
“Uh, yeah. My dads’ RV ran outta gas, he asked me to go out and ask if anyone has any gas on ‘em. Anyways, sorry for bothering you, sir.” Manzana begins to walk back to Joseph, but the Russian man stops him again.   
“Wait! You’re very fluent in English, so I take it that you’re a foreigner to Russia, will it be ok if I took a picture of you and your friend in front of the statue of Lenin? For memories of Russia?” Asked the Russian man.   
“This guy’s starting to irritate me..” Thought Manzana.  
“It’s him..” Thought the Russian man, “It’s the Mexican child that’s wanted dead! Finding him took quicker than expected! The payer even somehow accurately predicted our meeting! Even the ‘Father’s RV’ ploy, it feels so surreal, all I have to do is kill him, and I’ll be stinkin’ rich!” The Russian man smiles widely, “Though, I’m still confused about how to use my newfound ‘Psyche’ power.. How abrupt that transition was.. It all felt like a tall tale once I heard I had the ability to turn objects into living things! I can taste victory and money in my mouth! If I’m going to get this reward, I should name my ability so I can give all the credit to it in my autobiography!”   
The Russian mans’ thoughts are interrupted by Manzana, “Sorry, I can't afford the time to take a picture, sir.” Manzana begins to walk toward Joseph  
The man stammers, “Uh, wait! I actually do have gasoline!”   
Manzana looks at him with a confused expression, “What? Do you mean you have gasoline on you?”   
“Yes!” Stammers the man, “I have a large gallon of gasoline hanging from the back of my pocket by a chain! But! But, I’ll give you the gas if you..” The man looks around anxiously, then he focuses his glare at the statue of Lenin, “I’ll give you the gasoline if you allow me to take a picture of you in front of that statue!” Said the man, pointing at the statue.  
“Hm, very convincing, sir. But, I have one question for you.” Said Manzana.   
The man nods hastily, “Yes? What is the question?”   
“Do I look like a clown to you?” Asked Manzana.   
“What?” Said the man.   
“Answer my question, sir. Do I look like a clown to you?”   
“Well, I-“ The man is quickly interrupted.   
“Does it look like I’m dressed in circus garb? Does it look like I have clown paint on my face?”   
“What.. What’re you getting with this?” Asked the man with a slight stutter.   
“I’m asking if I look like a fool to you. Why would I believe that you have a gallon of gasoline strapped to your back pocket? You’re deluded.”   
“No! Look! Look! I have gasoline!” Said the man, he grabs a gallon of gasoline from behind him to prove it to Manzana, “Thank god I have spare gasoline..” Thought the man.   
Manzana examines the gallon of gasoline after he does this, Manzana looks at the man with a cold, dead stare.  
Manzana nods, “Fine. Hope you got a camera, I’ll be waiting in front of the statue.” Said Manzana. The Russian man nods, “Oh, I’m a genius! Having him and his pal in front of the statue! All I have to do is turn the statue alive and kill them! I’m all too brilliant!” The man digs into his pocket and grabs a Polaroid camera.   
Manzana walks toward Joseph, “You got anything with that fancy suit man?”   
Manzana sighs, “He wants us to take a picture in front of a statue before he gives us gasoline.”   
“Oh my god, really?” Groans Joseph, “That’s a hunk of bull!”   
“There’s something defiantly fishy about this, though.” Said Manzana, “Somehow, he knew I was with you even though I never told him I came with a friend.”   
“Maybe just a lucky guess?” Suggest Joseph.   
“Another odd thing, he said something in Russian, but also said a word in English, it was ‘Apple’. I have a bad feeling about this.”   
“He said ‘Apple’? You think he might know you or something?”   
“I dunno, let’s stay on our toes and play along.” Said Manzana.  
Manzana hesitates but begins walking with Joseph toward the statue of Lenin, they both stand in front of it, waiting for the Russian man.   
“Bozhiy Palets! That’s the name of my new ability, ‘Bozhiy Palets’, what a fitting name for an almost god-like ability!”   
The Russian man holds the Polaroid camera in his hand, he’s somewhat shaking with excitement and can’t help but smile widely.   
The man stands from a distance and aims the camera at both of them.   
The Russians man Psyche manifests behind the Lenin statue, out of Manzanas’ and Josephs's sight.   
The Psyche is 5’1 ft tall with short arms and torso but has extremely long legs.   
Its head is oval-shaped and the back of its head is extremely large. Its eyes are jet black and are lofty and shiny. It lacks both ears and a nose but has a medium-sized, gaping, void-less mouth. Its neck is extremely short to a point where it’s barely visible. It’s entire torso and lower-body is covered with large and small holes, it somewhat plays a tune when the wind blows through the body, though, it’s hands aren’t covered in holes, but instead, it’s covered in pure rubber.   
The man's Psyche, Bozhiy Palets, touches the leg of the Lenin statue and immediately disappears. The man smiles as he notices the statue begins to twitch, but the boys don’t notice.   
The man readies his Polaroid and lightly places his finger on the shutter, he can’t help but get giddy as he sees the statue of Lenin begin to blink and move his fingers, the man fidgets his leg while smiling widely.   
“May I ask you a question before we take the picture?” Asked Manzana.   
The man exhales loudly, “Yes, yes. What is it?”   
“What is your name, sir?” Asked Manzana.   
“Javin, Sir Javin, now, let’s get through with this!” Said Javin, he notices the statue look at the two boys with murderous intent.   
“Okay, ‘Sir Javin’. Tell me, do you have any business being here? Do you live here, Sir Javin?”   
Sir Javin suddenly feels his mouth become dry, and his throat beginning to ache, he feels himself to get hot under his suit, “Well, Uh.. Of course I live here! I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”   
“If that’s so, then why’re you getting so nervous? You’re sweating, Javin.” Said Manzana, “You wouldn’t become so tense if you lived here. You live here, right, Javin?”   
“Of course I live here!” Stammers Javin, “Why’re you asking such questions?! Please, let me help you make memories of Russia!”   
“One more thing, Sir Javin.” Said Manzana.   
Javin shakily sighs, “Yes, what?”   
“How’d you know that I was with someone that was right here when I said that I was with my father? I didn’t mention that I was with anyone else. Do you have different intentions, Sir Javin?” Said Manzana.   
Manzana had finally hit Javin’s breaking point.   
“Oh! You’re a little sleuth now, huh?! Screw it, I’m gonna do what I was told!” Javin said, his voice breaking and his face becoming red with anger.   
The Lenin statue hits Joseph on the head and tries to grab Manzana by the back of his neck. But, Manzana quickly ducks while Joseph yelled in agony as he rubbed the back of his head.   
“Shit! That fuckin’ hurt!” Shouts Joseph, “You damn commie! I’ll fucking beat you like Stalin's dad, you prick!” Tears began to form in Josephs's eyes, but he quickly wipes them and runs toward Javin, Super Freak manifesto behind Joseph and runs with him on all fours.   
“Joseph, no! You’re rushing in head-first! You’re going to get hurt!” Shouts Manzana.   
Despite his warning, Joseph didn’t heed it. The statue of Lenin slaps Manzana on the side of the head and grabs him by the neck.  
“Dammit! I got distracted!” Said Manzana, struggling to breathe. The Lenin statue grins at Manzana as he lifts him upward, gripping his neck tighter.   
Javin watches in shock as he sees Super Freaks grotesque form.  
“Bozhiy Palets!” Shouts Javin, “Bozhiy Palets, give life to..” Javin looks around anxiously and immediately focuses on the table he was sitting at, “Bozhiy Palets! Give life to that table and protect me!”   
Bozhiy Palets manifests near the table and touches it, it then disappears. The tables’ legs begin running toward Javin, it puts itself in front of Javin and blocks Josephs’ erratic punches along with Super Freaks scratches.   
“My god! Anything I give life to is like my personal servants!” Laughs Javin, “I’m a true god!”   
Javin looks at the chair he sat on and grins, “Bozhiy Palets! Give life to the chair, and attack that boy!”   
Bozhiy Palets then manifests on top of the chair, crouching, then touches the chair, Bozhiy Palets immediately disappears afterward. The chairs’ legs begin running toward Joseph and throws itself toward Josephs’ head and hits him directly, Joseph falls over and groans in pain. “Manzana.. help..” Groans Joseph.   
“Joseph! Damn!” Manzana struggles to breathe or speak due to Lenin's’ tightening grip, “Let go asshole!” Shouts Manzana.   
Space Oddity manifests behind the Lenin statue and punches him on the back of the head and back, Lenin immediately projectiles upward and floats in the sky as his head gravitates him and Manzana toward the sky.   
“My goodness! You’ve launched yourself to the sky, you fool!” Shouts Javin.   
Distracted, Lenin let’s go of Manzanas’ neck to silently panic, not realizing that he’s failed his objective.   
Manzana immediately falls toward the surface, Space Oddity manifests below Manzana and catches him with their arms in time. Manzana climbs out of Space Oddity’s arms and looks at Javin with a mean look, “That statue”s not the only one floating toward space today!” Shouts Manzana. Javin begins to sweat as he anxiously looks around to find something to protect him.   
“Soon enough, Sir Javin, you’ll be joining him!” Says Manzana as he stares at Javin with murderous intent.


	16. The Divine Power of Bozhiy Palets

Javin feels the intense thumping of his heart in his chest, he anxiously looks around to see what object he can bring to life, he shakily lifts up his arm to wipe the sweat off of his forehead.   
“You think your threats mean anything?” Javin said confidently, successfully concealing his nervousness, “All you are is a boy, you really think that I’m intimidated by an adolescent?”   
Manzana takes a step backward as he is surprised by Javin’s response. “Hm, cocky, are you?” Said Manzana, “Your confidence won't affect the outcome, actually, perhaps your arrogance is your downfall. You might as well give up now.”   
“What? He thinks of me as arrogant?!” Thought Javin, “Has my concealment fooled him into thinking me as an arrogant person? I should really get into acting after I kill this kid! Maybe I should keep this up.”  
Javin begins to walk toward Joseph, he picks him up by the collar and holds him up in the air, “How’re you feeling, boy?” Javin says to Joseph, “The blows to the head weren’t that bad, right?”   
Joseph meekly looks at Javin and groans, “Who are you?” Joseph says in confusion, “Everything’s so blurry... My head’s aching.”   
Javin smiles, “Luckily, the hits to the head weren’t that fatal, but they could be!” Javin picks up the chair that threw itself at Joseph and holds it over Josephs’ head, “To be honest with you, child. I’d rather not kill children, but, if you don’t surrender yourself and allow me to turn you in to my employer, then I will bash your friends’ head.”   
Manzanas’ eyes widen and his mouth slightly opens in shock.   
“You might want to comply, for he’s not even fully functional to defend himself, he’s in a complete daze!” Javin said with a giggle.   
“Can you turn it down?” Joseph groans, “You’re too loud, can you turn it down? I’m trying to sleep, man..” Joseph said, as if in a drunken state.   
“Shut up!” Shouts Javin, he kicks Joseph in the side of the head. Joseph groans loudly and begins to hold the side of his head, “Oh man, I’m getting a real bad migraine now..”   
Manzana puts his fist near his mouth and begins to bite the flesh of his index finger, “Damn it, trying anything that could threaten Javin might end up with Joseph's brain splattered on the cement..”   
Javin smirks, “If you surrender, then I want you on your knees and your hands behind your head!”   
Conflicted, Manzana glances around the area, he sighs, he sees that there’s no other choice, so he complies. Manzana puts his hands behind his head and gets on his knees, he glares at the ground, angry that he can’t do anything to help Joseph in any another way.   
Bozhiy Palets appears behind Manzana, coldly staring at the back of his head.   
Javin uses one hand to dig into his coat pocket and pulls out a ballistic knife, he then tosses the knife to Bozhiy Palets, Bozhiy Palets catches it with his hands and immediately drops it to the ground.   
The knife began to wiggle around, then began to roll slowly toward Manzana. The knife goes under Manzanas’ head, it stands straight up, the tip of the knife pointing straight at Manzanas’ face.   
“Do you know what a ballistic knife does, child?” Javin said sinisterly, “A ballistic knife is a knife with a detachable blade, it can shoot the blade out up to 16 feet. You know.. you’re not so far from the knife yourself, you’re actually extremely close to it. It would be a shame if a living knife just shot its’ blade toward your skull, killing you. Wouldn’t it be a shame?” Javin said with a sinister smile, he glares at Manzana with cold, dead eyes.   
“Why the sudden threat? I thought you were going to take me to your employer.” Said Manzana as sweat runs down his forehead, he stares at the tip of the blade with intense focus, not knowing if it’ll shoot out or not.   
“Actually, you’re worth at least a 20% more if you’re brought dead.” Said Javin, he giggles as he smiles widely, “Oh, what will you do? Let yourself die so your friend might live? Or save yourself and let your pal die?”  
Manzana intensely stares at the knife, sweat drips down from his nose and onto the ground, he anxiously looks around with his eyes and sees a black, metal table with 2 metal chairs, yet to be affected by Bozhiy Palets.   
Manzana closes his eyes and tries to focus, he shakily breathes heavily through his nose, he manages to make Space Oddity appear near the table.   
Space Oddity grabs the metal table, holds it over its head and throws it toward Javins’ head. Javin couldn’t react fast enough and is immediately hit by the table, the impact of the blow makes Javin drop the chair and fall toward the ground, Javin feels around his nearly balding head and finds it to be bleeding by the hit of the chair.   
Javin, in a daze, struggles to stand up. Space Oddity quickly slithers toward Joseph and carries him in its arm, Space Oddity then lightly punches Joseph in the gut, due to this, it allowed for Joseph to suspended only the air. Space Oddity then lightly pushes Joseph away toward Manzana.   
Joseph groans loudly, “Man, now it feels like I’m in the air.. this headache’s hurting like hell, man.. Where’s Manzana?” Joseph says with his eyes tightly closed as well with an uncomfortable expression. Manzana exhales sharply and closes his eyes, relaxed. But, he hasn’t realized that his head is still under the ballistic knife.   
“You.. You damn kid! I’ll make you.. I’ll make you pay, Dammit!” Shouts Javin, he makes the knife shoot toward Manzana’s face.   
Manzana gasps and immediately opens his eyes, wide. Manzana quickly raises his head up and looks toward the sky, dodging the knife successfully, but it still manages to cut Manzanas’ chin somewhat deeply.   
Manzana looks back at the ground, sweat dripping from his face, he wipes his forehead and breathes heavily, he touches the cut in his chin with his index and middle finger. Manzana feels blood from his chin, he looks at his hand and moves his thumb against his fingers, spreading his blood across his two fingers horizontally. Manzana puts his two fingers, faintly covered in blood, into his mouth. Manzana develops saliva in his mouth and mixes it with his blood.   
Manzana stands up and stares at Javin, he watches as Javin frantically looks around the area with his eyes, struggling to keep his arrogant performance.   
Javin notices a 10ft tall lamp post near him and a black, 25-mile long fence with sharp spears for guardrails.   
Without drawing Manzana from his cold gaze at Javin, Bozhiy Palets appears near the lamppost and fence and touches them both, Javin smiles widely as he sees the two objects wiggle around and squirm. The lamp post successfully wiggles out of its designated spot, using the electrical wires attached to its’ bottom side to stand, it begins to stagger toward Javin, wobbling around as it struggles to combat its’ height and weight.   
The black fence also manages to wiggle out of the holes that its’ poles were placed into, it slides right next to Javin, its’ rusty poles graze the ground, leaving marks behind it as it makes an ear-piercing noise.   
“If you haven’t realized, child..” Javin said arrogantly, “This is my ability, the divine power to give inanimate objects life, and bid to my will!”  
The black fence immediately rushes toward Manzana, grating its poles against the ground, it manages to wrap around Manzana and extends its spears upward, then bends the spears to face Manzana.   
Javin walks toward Manzana with a big grin, “I was expecting you to put up more of a fight. Y’know, get your fancy ‘Psyche’. What was its’ name? ‘Space Oddity’? Why not whip him out?”   
“I won’t need to.” Muttered Manzana, his mouth still developing saliva and mixing it with his blood.   
“Huh? Speak up, child.” Said Javin, setting his hand behind his ear.   
“I won’t need to!” Manzana says loudly, he spits the saliva and blood mixture at Javins’ eye. The fence falls flat backward as at the same time, Javin staggers backward and struggles to get the spit out of his eye, “Agh! Dammit! It’s in my damn eyeball!” Exclaims Javin.   
“I’ve noticed something.” Manzana says calmly, “Even if these objects bid to your will once you give them life, they instantly stop once you’re distracted. You need your full mental power to focus on commanding the objects, correct? And since I’ve disrupted your focus, the fence fell.”  
Javin gasps, he steps back again, nearly tripping. Javin still struggles to wipe the saliva out of his eye as he angrily stares at Manzana. Javin didn’t know what to correctly feel, he was both angry and distraught at the same time, not only did Manzana figure out his ability thoroughly but was also spat on by a child, he groans loudly.  
“And now that I’ve got your attention elsewhere..” Manzana says mischievously, “Time to bludgeon you until your face’s unrecognizable!” He says with a malevolent smile. Space Oddity suddenly appears from behind Javin and grabs him from under his arms, restraining him. “H-Hey! What the hell?!” Shouts Javin. Manzana punches Javin in the gut and socks him in the face, Javin bleeds from his lips and spits out some blood, he looks down on the ground as he takes Manzanas’ punches. Javin tries to focus on both the lamp post and fence at the same time, he can feel the objects begin to move again as he focuses on them. He begins to smile again. Manzana notices but continues to punch Javin in the face.   
Javin manages to make the fence to get behind Manzana without drawing his attention away from Javin, the fences’ spears slowly extend toward Manzanas’ back.   
“If I manage.. not to distract him from me..” Javin thought to himself, “I..I can pierce his chest! It’s all going so gloriously, this’ll be a fine chapter in my biography.” 

Javins’ eyes widen immediately when he hears the throat-clearing of a different man, he looks up to see a middle-aged Mexican man with a straw hat and poncho.   
“Why the hell’s this place so frickin’ cold?” Gusto stuttered whilst shivering as he watches in confusion. Manzana stops punching Javin to face Gusto, “Dad, you’re awake?”   
Javin begins to breathe heavily, “It won’t be long until he notices the fence! Fuck it, it’s now or never!”   
The fence extends hastily, but recklessly, and pierced through Manzanas’ stomach instead of his chest, blood soaks his shirt and drips from the spear, Manzana looks down at the spear and coughs out blood, “What?” He says, “What the hell?”   
Space Oddity immediately disappears and the spear on the fence reverts back into its original size.   
Manzana falls over, clenching onto his gut, Gusto notices that Manzanas’ eyes had suddenly turned bleak and gray, Gusto clenches his fist and grits his teeth as he watches his son lay on the ground, bleeding from his stomach.   
“What did you do?” Said Gusto, looking at Javin angrily, “What the fuck did you?!”   
Gusto reaches for his gun, cocks it, and shoots Javin. Javins’ eyes widen, “Bozhiy Palets, protect me, seychas!”  
Bozhiy Palets appears in front of Javin, shielding him from the bullet, the bullet goes through one of Bozhiys’ holes in his body, the bullet instantly comes out of one of the other holes, but now at a faster rate than when the gun fired it. Gusto couldn’t have reacted to the bullet fast enough, but before he knew it, the bullet went straight back toward him and shot him in the chest.   
Gusto is completely silent, he falls to his knows as he coldly stares at the bullet hole in his chest.


	17. The Divine Power of Bozhiy Palets Part 2

Javin smiles a wide smile as he watches Gusto slump his head down and Manzana bleeding out, “I’ve killed them!” Javin looks at Joseph, who’s not moving, and smiles at him, “This was easier than I thought!” Javin stands up confidently, “But then again, some of them were inexperienced.. But so was I!” Javin giggles.   
Javin suddenly hears a sharp whistling sound, but pays no attention to it until he feels a sharp, burning feeling in his leg, he focuses on it and realizes that he’s bleeding from his leg.   
“What in the lord? How.. how did this happen?” Javin collapses and clenches onto his wound, confused about what had happened.   
“So.. whaddya think?” Spoke Gusto, he tips his hat upward and looks at Javin, “I’m a pretty good actor, huh?” Gusto stands back up and smiles at Javin.   
“How.. How dare you still live?!” Shouts Javin, “You were shot! I’ve killed you! I’ve killed you, demon!”   
“I’m surprised actually, wasn’t I.P the one who employed you? I’d think he’d tell you what I can do since he’s done that with the others..” Said Gusto with an angry tone but keeps his face expressionless.   
“Answer me, unholy one!” Shouts Javin.   
“Ricochet.” Said Gusto, “Once the bullet entered my body and hit my ribcage, I managed to ricochet the bullet off of my ribcage and made it go outside my body. You should’ve read what you were going against, dumbass.”   
“You speak angrily, but don’t express anger through your face!” Javin points out, “You mustn’t be holding a grudge, yes?”   
Gusto shakes his head, “Naw, I’m still totally pissed that you fucking impaled my son, dickhead.”   
Javin bites his lip to the point where he begins to bleed, “To hell with it! I’m going to do whatever it takes to put you out of order!”   
Bozhiy Palets disappears from Javin, then appears next to two 2 story houses and touches them.   
Bozhiy then immediately disappears as the two houses begin to squirm out of their encaged spots.   
“Your ‘Psyche’ is long-ranged, huh?” Said Gusto, “It can explain why it’s using other things to attack instead of actually doing it itself. Is that why it can just appear and disappear and not walk or float toward things like most ‘Psyches’?”   
“Shut up already!” Shouts Javin, “I’m tired of you! All of you! I’m using anything in my power to kill you!”   
Bozhiy Palets appears near two trash cans and touches them, it then appears on top of the RV and touches it, then disappears.   
The two houses use electrical wire, water-pipes or anything below it that can help it balance itself. The wires and pipes extend long enough to loom over Gusto.   
“Huh, never thought I’d see the day where I’m initiated by some houses..” Said Gusto, staring at the houses that stand above him.   
“So.. What type of strategy are you gonna use with two houses, smartass?” Asked Gusto.   
“Screw using any type of strategy! If it’ll kill you then it’s worth the shot!” Javin shouts desperately, he swings his arms around. The houses sway around and stagger toward Gusto. One of the houses points an electrical wire at Gusto, it extends toward Gusto at a frighteningly fast speed. Gusto immediately falls flat backward, the electrical wire misses and electrocutes the ground instead. Whilst at the ground, Gusto lifts his back upward and forms a hill shape with his feet head. Gusto looks at the wire while upside-down and shoots at it, once it hits the wire it immediately ricochets toward the opposite direction and flies at Javin. The ricocheted bullet lands into Javins right leg, Javin immediately kneels down as he covers the bullet hole, he cringes as he feels the burning sensation becoming irritable. “Is that really all of your power, Ruskie?” Said Gusto with a grin, “If you keep this up, this fight will end quicker than ‘Baby Shoes, Never Worn’!” Guffawed Gusto.   
Javin screams with his mouth closed, straining his throat and his face becoming red, “This man’s speech is giving me a headache.” Thought Javin, “I need to put an end to his bickering!” Javin sways his arms again.   
The RV suddenly bolts toward Gusto with no intention in stopping, “Don’t brake! Don’t slow down!” Shouts Javin, “Just run him over!”   
Gusto watches the RV with a blank expression, “Don’t brake, huh?” He says to himself.   
Gusto turns to face the RV that is speeding right toward him with a smug expression, he aims his gun at the window and shoots twice. The first bullet bounces off of the window, not breaking it, and flies right toward Javin. The second bullet breaks the window.   
Javin sees the first bullet go straight at him and manages to dodge it by lying down on the floor, “Ha!” Laughed Javin, “You’ve missed!”   
As the RV nearly runs over Gusto, he quickly jumps and lands in the driver seat of the RV, “Sorry, pal, but I never miss.” Gusto shouts at Javin, “I always hit my target.” Gusto swerves the steering wheel toward Javins’ direction and speeds up. The RV hits Javins upper body and head, fracturing two bones and leaving minor brain damage, Javin flies backward and lands on a wall of Lenin's Mausoleum.   
“I can barely get up..” Thought Javin, “My bones are too weak.. But I mustn’t give up.. I mustn’t let this man win!”   
Gusto gets out of the RV by jumping down from the RVs’ window frame, he slowly walks up toward Javin with a faint smile, “Y’know, I’m having more fun with this than I thought!”  
Javin looks at Gusto angrily and weakly sways his arms to the left.  
The other house also bends a water pipe facing Gusto and extends toward Gustos’ left leg at a high speed, faster than the previous water pipe. Gusto quickly lifts his left leg upward and shoots at the water pipe. The bullet ricochets off of the water pipe and flies at Javin.   
Javins’ eyes are now widened and crazy, his mouth and lips are dyed with red due to his blood, then Javin slams his fist against the ground, “Bozhiy Palets!” He shouts, “Protect me!”   
Bozhiy Palets appears in front of Javin and puts both of his hands in front of him, trying to shield Javin from the bullet. Despite Javins’ quick thinking, the bullet goes right through Bozhiys’ hand and grazes Javin on the side of the head. Javin immediately grabs onto the side of his head, he groans loudly as he collapses to the ground, “It burns!” He yells, “It hurts like hell! Why does it burn like that?!” Javin looks at Gusto with an angry expression, “How are you not in pain?! You were shot in the chest! You should be wallowing such as me!”   
“Desensitization.” Said Gusto. “What?!” Shouts Javin, “Speak louder, will you!?”   
“Why I oughtta..” Mutters Gusto, “Desensitization!” Shouts Gusto, “I’ve been shot at for half my life, boy. A little shot to the chest is nothing to me, I barely even feel it anymore, bud.”   
Suddenly, Javin had a sudden realization, “I know something that you’ll feel!”   
Bozhiy palets kneel down and touches the ground with its injured hand.   
Gusto staggered as the earth rumbles, “Uh oh, that can’t be good.” Gusto said to himself. Gusto collapses forward as he feels the earth move at an unusually high speed. Gusto notices that the cold temperature suddenly becomes heated and the area has become more brightly colored, Gusto looks at Javin “Hey!” Shouts Gusto, “What the hell are you doing?!”   
Javin laughed, “Haven’t you realized? I have the power to give anything life! So, what else to do but give the earth life!” Said Javin as he stared deeply into something that has drawn his attention away from Gusto. Gusto looks at what Javin’s looking at and gasps, “My god..” Gusto says in awe as the earth quickly approaches the Sun. Gusto turns to face Javin, “You idiot! Don’t you know what you’re doing!? You’re going to kill us all, including you!”   
Javin gives Gusto a wild grin, “Does it matter?! I’ve grown tired of your provocations, foreigner! I’ll eradicate you forever!” He says while giggling.   
Javin suddenly feels his eyelids become heavy and his body becoming limp, he feels sweat form from his forehead and drips down to his clothes and nose, somehow, he feels his brain ache and sight darken every second, “Tired..” Javin says to himself, “So tired.. how..?” Javin can barely think through his aching head.   
The ground below Javin begins to rumble, he notices that the rumbling ground is only happening in his direction and nowhere else, not even Gusto notices it. Javin notices something in the corner of his left eye, he quickly turns his head to the left and sees Joseph in the ground, dazed, with a tall, skinless creature standing above him with its’ hands dug into the ground.   
“Sup.” Said Joseph.   
Joseph staggers as he struggles to stand up, but successfully manages to, he looks at Manzana then at Javin, then at the Sun.   
“You’re trying to drive the Earth into the Sun, right?” Asked Joseph, “Do you know how fuckin’ stupid that is? You have to be missing a few cells in your brain, man.”   
Joseph sighs and slowly walks toward Javin, “Unlucky for you, intense fatigue’ll distract you from your goals because of the tiredness. I dunno if you’ve noticed, but the Earths’ speed toward the Sun has slowed down by a lot.”  
Despite that fact, the Earth has gotten close enough to the Sun where half of the Eastern countries are being burned out of existence.   
Javin’s not even paying attention to Joseph as he’s lost in his scrambled mind. Without realizing it, Javin swings his arm to the left, returning the Earth back to its position in orbit. The temperature immediately resets back to its freezing state.   
“Oh, shit..” Joseph said as he shivers, “I don’t remember it being this cold..”   
“Joseph!” Shouts Mary from a distance.   
Joseph looks at the direction of the noise and sees both Caesar and Mary, who are wounded with scratches on their face and small rips and tears on their clothes.


	18. The Obsession of Wedding Bell Blues

Now following Caesar and Mary, during their departure from Manzana and Joseph to search for gas for the RV. Caesar and Mary walk through a lively town area with people speaking to one another loudly in Russian, despite that most of the people have calm expressions, they speak in a surprisingly angry tone. Caesar squints as he looks around and sees an elderly woman, who’s knitting by a coffee shop. “Hey, Mary, we should ask that old woman over there.” Caesar says while pointing at the woman, “She might know where a gas station is!”   
Mary rolls her eyes and glares at the ground while frowning and not responding to Caesar. Caesar notices Marys’ unhappy expression and becomes immediately worried, “Mary? Is everything alright? I haven’t done anything to make you upset, have I?” He asks.   
Mary nods slowly, “Yes, you have.” She says, “More like what you do. Why must you always provoke Joseph? You snap right back at him when he insults you.”   
Caesar looks at her, confused about what she’s saying, “What do you mean? How else am I supposed to respond to your idiot of a brother?”   
Mary clenches her fist, restraining herself from assaulting Caesar, “I know my brother’s not the smartest, I know that too well, but it’s irritating to hear others call him stupid. It’s ok for me to do it because Joseph always knows that I’m just joking with him, but when others say it, they mean it and it really hurts me.” Mary said as her voice becomes shaky, almost as if she was beginning to cry, “Joseph gets so angry when he’s called dumb or an idiot, it just pains me to see him so angry, and the fact that we have you, someone who clearly doesn’t like him as much as he likes you, insulting and provoking him. It’s utterly frustrating now that I’ve somewhat warmed up to you, now willing to give you a second chance like Mr. Tahara.”   
Mary breaks her gaze from the ground and looks at Caesar, “Please, don’t be so crude with my brother, he may act like a fool, but please, restrain yourself.”   
Caesar stammers, “Well..” He stuttered, “I’m sorry for my hesitation to respond.. It’s just that someone hasn’t ever been so upfront with me, and if my insults toward Joseph bothers you, Mary, then I’ll stop. I’ll do whatever that’ll stop my friend from becoming upset.”   
Mary smiles at Caesar then looks at the elderly lady Caesar was pointing at earlier, “Well then, let’s go bother some old Russian lady.”   
Mary and Caesar walk toward the elderly woman, she takes notice in both of them and smiles, “Hello!” She says happily.   
“Hello, ma'am!” Says Caesar, trying to level with the amount of friendliness of the woman, “You don’t mind if we ask you one question, yes?”  
The woman shakes her head, “I don’t mind at all, young man. Please, tell me your question.”   
“Do you know where we can find gasoline or a gas station?” Asks Caesar.   
“Gas station?” The woman says in confusion, “What is a gas station?”   
Caesar immediately becomes anxious, his palms and forehead become sweaty, “My apologies, ma'am!” Caesar stuttered, “I didn’t mean to bother you with something you have no knowledge of, please forgive me!”   
The woman tilts her head at Caesar, “Why do you become so nervous, young man? I have gasoline on me right now!” She says while giving Caesar a big smile. The woman reaches into her pocket and pulls out an entire canister of gasoline, “Here you go, boy! You may take the entire canister, I have 5 at my home so I don’t mind!”   
“Wow!” Gasped Mary, “Do you usually keep gasoline in your pocket?”   
The woman nods, “Not for automobiles, mainly to burn roadkill I find, or burn an automobile that bothers me. Oh yes, please be careful of the gasoline, especially when you’re around the bullets.” Said the woman as she pointed toward the ground. Caesar and Mary look down to see multiple types of bullets in the ground, ranging from shotgun shells to handgun ammo.   
“Woah!” Exclaims Mary, “Why’re there bullets everywhere?! ..and why am I just noticing that they’re there?”   
The woman smiles at that them again, “Believe it or not, this isn’t the friendliest neighbor, despite everything looking so nice. These shootouts mainly happen if someone doesn’t wave back at you just don’t like what the other person’s wearing.”   
“Huh?” Said Caesar, “You mean that Russians should carry a shotgun on them 24/7?”   
The woman nods, “24/7, every week, month and year of their life.”   
“Wait, you say to be careful around the bullets with the gasoline, why so? Dead bullets aren’t really sensitive to some gasoline.”   
“Yes, that’s true, but these bullets are highly sensitive. When these bullets are fired, flames ignite inside the bullet, thus producing burn wounds to an opposer, as well as a regular bullet wound.” The woman picks up a handgun bullet and cracks it open to reveal a small, live flame inside, “See? Even after the bullet has been shot, the flame still resides inside of said bullet.”   
Mary nods, “I see, so we need to be extra cautious with this gasoline, okay Caesar?”   
Caesar nods as well, “I got it, Mary. We should be on our way back then, I can’t believe that Russians actually carry canisters of gas in their pockets!” Caesar says to Mary, he then turns to face the elderly woman, “Thank you for your help, ma’m! We’ll be on our way.” He says while beginning to walk away.   
“Hold on, young lady.” Said the elderly woman to Mary, “You know, you look like what my granddaughter would describe as the ‘perfect wife’!”   
Mary looks at her, dumbfounded, “Excuse me?”   
“Well, more like my step-granddaughter. She always tells me how she would die for the perfect girlfriend, she would tell me how she would act, dress and look.” The woman grabs onto Marys’ poncho and analyzes it closest, “And by the sights of it, you look exactly like what she described as the ‘perfect’ girlfriend!”   
“Wow.” Thought Caesar, “That’s an extremely uncomfortable thing to say. Well, the woman’s elderly, I can’t really blame her for overstepping her boundaries, huh?”  
“I’m so sorry if it may seem so abrupt.” Said the woman, “But you wouldn’t mind giving my sweet, Isidora a chance, would you?”   
Mary quickly shakes her head and lightly pulls her poncho away from the woman, “I’m sorry ma'am, but that’s not something I’m willing to do. I’ll have to.. politely decline the opportunity. My apologies.” 

Without realizing it or acknowledging it, a teenaged girl watches Caesar and Mary from a distance, hiding behind a wall. She constantly moves her long, messy hair away from her eyes to closely watch Mary, and smiles whenever Mary makes any movement. She clenches onto her white expedition parka as anger seeps into her mind whenever Caesar dares to interact with Mary. “This is her.” She mutters to herself, “This is the ‘perfect’ one.. The one who has stolen the heart of Isidora, the hopeless romantic.”   
From nowhere, water from all areas suddenly bolt next to Isidora, as if they have a mind of their own, the water forms Isidora’s Psyche. Her Psyche is 5 ft and made up entirely out of the water, the water forms a humanoid structure but lacks legs. The Psyches’ torso has various flowers imbedded into its’ chest, all made up of water and all range from roses to tulips. On top of its head is a flower crown made up of ice, and its’ eyes are of shiny, pink gems. The Psyche also lacks ears, nose, and mouth.   
“So pretty.” Isidora says quietly to her Psyche, “You have a face that deserves love.” Isidora smiles at it, “ ‘Wedding Bell Blues’. A name fitting for one who’s doomed to be loveless, correct?” Isidora slowly nods while looking at Wedding Bell Blues, it also slowly nods back. Isidora immediately directs her attention back toward Mary and Caesar, she frowns and bites her lip as she sees both of them speaking together.   
“Mary, can you carry that gasoline by yourself?” Caesar asks, concerned.   
“Hey, don’t worry about it, Caesar. I got... I got it under control!” Mary says while struggling to keep the heavy gas canister in her arms. Caesar groans, “C’mon Mary, you’re obviously struggling. Here, lemme help.”   
Isidora makes her lip bleed as she watches Caesar accidentally touch Marys’ hand as he grabs the gas canister from her. “Gee Mary, what exactly are you trying to prove? This canister is obviously too heavy for you, even for me too!”   
Mary rolls her eyes, “Hey, how about we both carry the heavy frickin’ gas can together?”   
Caesar nods, he holds one end as she holds the other, they both slowly move toward the RV.   
Isidora crouches down, hunched over “That motherfucking weasel..” Isidora mutters to herself, “He thinks he’s so smooth, I know what he’s trying to do! He’s trying to make a move on my girl!” Isidora bites on her lip harder, “I’ll show him what happens when you make moves on my girl.”   
“Hey.” A man says from behind, “Whatcha doin’, kid?”   
Wedding Bell Blues immediately turns to face the man and puts its left hand up, facing the man.   
“What the?!” Shouts the man, “Is that one of those weird, ghost things?!  
A long, blade of ice develops in the palm of WBB’s left hand and propels itself off from their palm, and into the mans’ left eye. The man gets on his knees and falls flat on his face, dead.   
“Yes..” says Isidora, “This will be enough to kill that little red-headed weasel..”   
WBB then generates water out of nowhere and forms a human structure, the water immediately freezes and reveals itself to be a sculpture of Caesar. Another blade of ice develops in WBB’s left palm and it flies toward the right of the ice sculpture. Isidora sinisterly smiles as the ice goes right through the ice sculpture. “So cool!” Isidora exclaims to herself, “These things are so cool! What did that ‘I.P’ guy call them again?” Isidora gets her phone out and opens the messaging app, she reads the message that was sent to her out loud, “This is your ‘Psyche’. Name it however you want, or don’t. It has the ability to control both water and ice and also freeze any type of liquid. You can also generate water + ice willingly. If you fail, you will be killed by me personally, if you’re able to succeed in killing Manzana and Gusto Tahara, Joseph and Mary Siant, and Caesar Guadalupe, then you’ll receive the cash reward.”   
Isidora sighs defeatedly, “I guess the girl is Mary. Do I really have to kill her? She has such a pretty name. Why can’t I keep her for myself? Hey, maybe I can negotiate something with ‘I.P’, I’m sure he’ll listen!”   
Isidora stands straight up, walks away from the wall she’s been hiding behind, and begins to walk toward Caesar and Mary, who’ve barely made it out of the area. “The funeral and wedding bells will begin to toll, as I kill Caesar, the red rat, and take Mary Siant as my wedded wife!”


	19. The Obsession of Wedding Bell Blues part 2

As Caesar and Mary struggle to carry the massive canister of gasoline back to the RV, they feel the temperature becomes colder, the ground becoming slippery and the can of gasoline has suddenly become heavy.   
“Geez, how do Russians even live with this type of weather?” Complained Mary. Caesar smiles at her, “One of the mysteries that remain unsolved, huh?” He responds. Mary suddenly stops, Caesar nearly slips because of her. He looks at her with a confused expression, “What’s up?” He asks her. “The can.” She replies, “The liquid inside stopped moving.”   
Caesar tilts his head and shakes the can lightly to see if Mary’s correct, “What the?” He mutters, “The gas isn’t moving at all! It’s like it’s completely solid!”   
Mary nods, “The gas has also suddenly become heavy.”   
Caesar lightly sets the can of gasoline on the ground, twists the lid on its’ left side, and looks into the hole. Caesar sees that the gasoline has completely frozen. “Man, that’s strange. The gas has completely frozen! Wait, why does the frozen gas look like a..”   
Caesar immediately stops talking as frozen gasoline in the shape of a blade flies out of the gasoline and into his left eye. Mary covers her mouth to silence her screams of shock as Caesar falls over, blood dripping from his left eye while a blade of frozen gasoline is stuck through his eyeball.   
“Cae.. Caesar!” Stammered Mary, “How the heck did this happen!?” Ave Maria immediately appears in front of Mary and crouches down above Caesar, its’ saliva drips down from its mouth and onto Caesars wound.   
“This was an attack from our hunters.” She says as she scouts the area with her eyes, “It was mighty bold of them to attack like that! All I have to do now is identify the threat and tell Gusto! ..or, Manzana.” She mutters to herself.   
“Isi and Mary, sitting on a tree...” Isidora says loudly to Mary as she walks toward her. Mary immediately directs her attention to Isidora and backs up. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Isidora said in a sing-song voice, “First I killed the redhead, then I killed her friends. Then, we were left alone on that tree!” Isidora smiles wildly at Mary.  
“Well, at least I’ve got the threat.” Mary thinks to herself, “But how should I approach this? The others are a pretty good distance from me, and I can make it if I run well enough, but I don’t know her Psyche power, I can’t risk it! Should I just wait? What if her power’s not as bad as I think, and I’m just wasting time?!” Mary hits both sides of her head as she groans, “Stop overthinking! Let’s just wait and find out!” She finally thought.   
Isidora smiles happily at Mary while pacing around. Isidora feels her cheeks become warm and red as she looks at Mary’s face and body.   
“Oh, lovely Mary, it is you who I’ve sought out for many months..” Isidora said playfully, “Oh, lovely Mary, will you please take my hand in marriage, and allow me to kill your companions?”   
“Are you serious?” Thought Mary, “You’re quite the character, huh?” Mary said to Isidora, “But you might have some screws loose in your head.”   
“Oh yes! I’m missing a few screws for you, Mary!” Isidora says gleefully, “Oh, just looking at you just keeps scrambling my mind! My! You’re just so beautiful!”   
“Oh, you’re just so kind.” Mary says sarcastically, “What’s your game anyways? Is this act just some trick? You’re not fooling me.”   
“Oh, it’s not an act, sweet Mary. I’m madly in love with you! Please, marry me, you handsome devil!” Isidora immediately gets on one knee and stares endearingly at Mary.   
“Heck, I’m not going anywhere with this, I need to know her ability. Some provocations towards her should do the trick!” Thought Mary.  
Mary clears her throat and looks at Isidora, unimpressed, “You’re kidding me, right?” She says to Isidora, rudely, “Why would I ever marry someone like you? You’re absolutely crazy, ridiculously deluded, and insanely unbearable! If you really ‘loved’ me, then you would know I deserve better than you!”   
Isidora’s odd smile suddenly turns into a depressing frown, tears begin to well up in Isidora’s eyes, but she manages to fight them.   
“Aha! I’ve done something right.. I think?” Thought Mary.  
“Well then..” Isidora says with a shaky voice, “You can’t say no to me if you’re already dead!”   
Isidora immediately steps backward, “Wedding Bell Blues!” She shouts. Her psyche, Wedding Bell Blues, immediately appears in front of Isidora, crouching down while water constantly flows and moves within its body.   
Wedding Bell Blues closes their right hand and shakes it, they open it up again to reveal over 100 small, ice balls, similarly to marbles. Wedding Bell Blues then takes one ice ball and throws it to the ground, and without a break, shatter or crack, the ball of ice bounces right back up, Wedding Bell Blues catches it.   
“Good, they’re solid,” Isidora says coldly.   
Wedding Bell Blues then throws all of the ice balls at Mary, laying them all out in front and below her. Wedding Bell Blues then points the palm of their left hand below the ground that Mary’s standing on, and shoots water out.   
“Huh?” Said Mary, “Hey, what is this?” She asks.   
“A trap, my ‘sweet’, Mary.” Said Isidora, “You’ve rejected me and that is most unforgivable. I’m sorry that I won’t marry you while you’re still alive. See, any sudden movements, and I’ll..” Before Isidora can finish, the water around Mary suddenly shoots upward and freezes immediately, forming a spear shape, “I’ll kill you with my Psyche, Wedding Bell Blues.”   
“Water and ice!” Thought Mary, “That’s her Psyche power!” Mary looks around, “And it’s more deadly than I’ve expected.”   
Mary struggles to keep still as the water slowly slides her around, “Can she make the water move me around?” Thought Mary.   
Mary's thoughts were correct as the water forces her to slip, the water below her propels upward toward Mary's leg and freezes at the same time, thus piercing through her leg and dangling her from the surprisingly strong and study ice spear.   
“Oh, motherfu-!” Shouts Mary, she struggles to get her leg off of the ice spear, but only makes matters worse as all she does is create a large tear in her leg. The pain distracts Mary from managing to make Ave Maria manifest, Mary winces and grits her teeth has the pain becomes irritable. “I’m sorry, my Mary.” Isidora says sorrowfully, “But it seems like your life has come to an end.”   
Isidora begins to move toward Mary, but is suddenly stopped, Mary looks up to see Isidora looking at the back of her hand in awe. “What the?” Said Isidora as blood drips out from her fingernails and onto the ground at rapid speeds. Isidora and Mary notice that the blood is going toward a certain direction like it’s being controlled. Isidora follows the trail of blood with her eyes and finds that the blood is going toward Caesar, who’s eye is perfectly fine.   
“What?” He said, “You just assumed I died that easily, Isidora?”   
Isidora steps back and begins to stammer, “What? How! How are you still alive?”   
Caesar shakes his head, “That’s a secret I simply cannot reveal to you.” Caesar smiles as the blood forms a puddle in front of him, “But hey, since you were stupid enough to let me gather enough blood for Bloody Sunday, I get my fighting chance, huh?”   
Bloody Sunday appears right next to Caesar, menacingly staring down at Isidora.   
Bloody Sunday presses the spear attached to his left hand against the spear on his right hand and slides it down, and proceeds to process in vice versa whilst pacing around Isidora and Wedding Bell Blues. Bloody Sunday creates a large ball of blood with its left hand and chucks it toward Isidora, “Wedding Bell Blues, freeze!” Shouts Isidora. Wedding Bell Blues sticks their hand out toward the ball of blood and immediately freezes it, Isidora chuckles loudly, “Is that really all you can..” Isidora stops speaking as she watches Caesar run toward the frozen ball of blood and drops kicks it while it’s still midair, propelling it toward Isidora’s face, hitting her directly and shattering the frozen blood ball. “That’s for stabbing me through the eye!” Shouts Caesar angrily.   
Isidora falls backward but Wedding Bell Blues catches her before she can hit the ground, WBB then proceeds to help Isidora stand straight up again. “Woah, Caesar!” Mary says in awe, “How’d you learn to do that?!”   
Caesar quickly glances at Mary, “I’ll tell you later!” He then switches his glance right back to Isidora. Isidora moves the bloody ice away from her face to clearly look at Caesar, “Why, you fuckin’..” She mutters. Wedding Bell Blues then crouches down, points their palm at the ground below Caesar and shoots out large amounts of water, the water flies upward and wraps around Caesar's legs, then freezes immediately, trapping Caesar.   
“Oh, come on!” Groans Caesar. Caesar struggles to get his feet out of the ice trap as Isidora rushes toward him. Wedding Bell Blues, while matching Isidora’s speed, slides through the ground, going toward Caesar. Wedding Bell Blues forms a small, ice blade that’s attached to its wrist and stabs Caesar in both of his kneecaps. Blood drips from Caesar's knees, but it freezes immediately. “I knew that you might use the blood again, so I’ve frozen your wound! You’re totally vulnerable.”   
Caesar blankly stares at Isidora and begins to laugh at her.   
“The blood might be frozen, but that can’t stop me from manipulating it.”   
As Caesar said this, Isidora’s eyes widen as the frozen blood forms itself into a blade and pierces her stomach.   
“Agh! I won’t go down so easily! That blade barely hurt!” Isidora says through her pain.   
Wedding Bell Blues shoots water from their palm toward Caesar's mouth and freezes it immediately, muting him. Wedding Bell Blues then punches the ice mask on Caesar, shattering around his mouth and knocking him backward, breaking away from the ice that has trapped his feet.   
“I’m getting tired of this! Who knew that trying to elope was so hard?”   
Caesar wallows on the ground as he tries to focus and unscramble his mind, taken back by the amount of force of the punch. Isidora gets on top of Caesar with Wedding Bell Blues right next to her and creates a ball of water with their hand, then, with the ball of water still on WBB’s hand, they cover Caesar's mouth and nose with the water.   
“With this, he’ll surely drown! He must!” Exclaims Isidora as she chokes Caesar at the same time.   
Mary watches in utter shock as Caesar dies, she desperately tries to get her leg out of the ice spear, and is now successful but breaks the tip of the spear in the process. She lands her foot on the ground then grabs the broken ice tip of the spear, she struggles to stand up with the wound on her leg. Now standing up, Mary slowly makes her way toward Isidora, who’s too distracted with killing Caesar and aims at Isidora’s side of the stomach.   
Mary hastily shoves the tip of the spear through Isidora's’ side of her torso, thus preventing her from going through with killing Caesar.   
Isidora immediately pushes herself away from Mary and gets off of Caesar, Caesar gasps for breathes as he tries to stand back up, Isidora clenches onto her torso wound and whimpers.   
“Damn.,” she mutters.   
Isidora stands up but staggers, she still manages to keep standing, though she’s on the brink of collapsing.   
“Wedding Bell Blues..” She says quietly, “Get me to.. higher ground.”   
Wedding Bell Blues crouches down and shoots water below Isidora, it freezes instantly and propels upward with Isidora still standing, perfectly still.   
Now in higher ground, Isidora smiles smugly at Caesar and Mary, “Now I have the winning advantage!” She thought to herself.   
Wedding Bell Blues appears right next to Isidora and creates two large balls of ice with their hands, and throws them toward Caesar and Mary, once they impact the ground, large amounts of water burst out, distracting Caesar and Mary.   
“Woah!” Shouts Caesar, “Death from above! Watch out, Mary!”   
Caesar cautiously and nervously dodges the projectiles as they drop toward them, Wedding Bell Blues continuously throws the balls toward them, but Mary notices a strange pattern.   
“Wait, Caesar, stop moving for a moment!” Suggested Mary.  
“What? For what?!” He replies anxiously.   
“Just do it!” She demands.   
Caesar complies almost instantly and stops moving, he notices that the balls of ice aren’t even aimed toward him and are purposely missing them.   
“What? The balls, they aren’t aimed for us!” Exclaims Caesar, “But..why?” Caesar looks down and notices that there’s water below him at knee height. “What the?! Where did this water come from?” He exclaims.   
“The bursts of water of the balls! The balls have been releasing heavy amounts of water! Isidora isn’t trying to hit us, she’s trying to drown us with a flood!”   
Each time a ball of ice is thrown, the flood of water gets concerningly higher and higher at faster rates, already it’s reached their waists, and now the bottom half of their torso.   
“It’s happening quickly!” Shouts Caesar. He looks around the area to see every other bystander being affected, mothers struggling to get their babies out of their areas and elderlies unable to leave.   
The flood is already at neck height.  
Caesar watches as short, elderly people struggle to swim and begin drowning, “The innocents..” he mutters, “I can’t let them die!” He shouts, “They won’t die! They won’t lose their lives from a situation they hold no grasp on!”   
Caesar swims toward the elderly, Bloody Sunday appears right next to him and uses the blood to flow through the water and tightly grasps onto the fingers of the helpless with the blood, like a sturdy rope. Though Caesar's hand aches and strains, he manages to get those who are helpless to the rooftops of nearby buildings to avoid the flood.   
“Caesar! Our lives are at stake!” Mary shouts.   
Caesar turns to face her, “And so were theirs! Wasn’t you who said that all life is precious? I’m following your ideal and saving precious, sacred lives!”   
The flood is now at the bottom half of their face.  
“Mary!” Shouts Caesar, “Can you swim?!”   
“No!” She responds desperately   
“Grab onto my arm! I know how to swim, I’ll help you stay afloat!”   
Mary doggy paddles toward Caesar and grabs onto Caesar, clenching onto his arm.  
“Damn..” Muttered Isidora, “The redhead knows how to swim, I didn’t think so far ahead, huh?”  
Suddenly, the ground begins rumbling and shaking, Isidora nearly falls off of her ice tower, “What the?!” Exclaims Isidora, “What’s happening?”   
Isidora looks up at the sky and watches as the Earth flies toward the sun at frightening speeds!   
“Mary! Look at the sky!” Said Caesar   
Mary looks up to see the sun getting closer and closer, “Oh shoot!” She shouts, “We’re flying toward the sun!”   
The ice tower that Isidora stands on melts rapidly, and the water flood instantly condensates and evaporates, disappearing instantly from sight.   
Caesar looks around to see no water, “Isidora’s effects must’ve disappeared because of the sun!” Caesar looks at the gasoline can that still lays on the ground, he gasps and in an instant, he sprints for the gas canister, swipes it, and runs toward Isidora.   
Isidora lands on the ground and turns to look at Caesar, who’s running at her, frighteningly, Caesar throws gasoline onto Isidora, soaking her entirely.   
“Mary, remember what that old lady said about the bullets?” He says.   
Mary gasps, “Caesar! You aren’t seriously planning to..” She stops speaking as she fully realizes.   
“Mhm!” Replies Caesar. He grabs a handful of shotgun shells from the ground and cracks them all open to reveal the small flames inside of them, Caesar immediately throws them at Isidora, instantly, the bullets crackle and explode on impact, even burning Isidora. And instantly, Isidora catches fire, and with Wedding Bell Blues powers ineffective, she’s unable to put them out, and is consumed by the flames.   
Caesar immediately gets on his knees, closes his eyes and looks down, “My lord, please forgive me for the sins I have committed, for they were to protect those who were in danger, and for it was to end the life of an evil being who has spat on everything you stand for.” Caesar whispers at a quick speed, “And thank you for the blessings you have given me, including the opportunity for me to make new friends, to have a temporary home and food. Thank you, god, my lord and savior, Amen. Amen. Amen.” Caesar opens his eyes and stands back up, he then turns to face Mary, “You should also pray, Mary. Considering the fact that we’re going to die because of the sun.”   
Before Mary can respond, the ground began rumbling once more, now moving away from the sun and returning to its designated spot, instantly, Caesar and Mary begin to shiver, “Oof!” Said Mary, “Was it this cold before?”   
Caesar shrugs, “Who cares? Let’s grab the gas and go!”   
Mary and Caesar carry the heavy gas can together and quickly run toward the RV.   
Once they arrive where the RV was supposed to be, they realize it to be gone, they look over where the statue of Vladimir Lenin is supposed to be and find it to be gone. Caesar tugs on Mary’s shoulder, and points at Gusto, “Look, there they are!”   
As Caesar notifies her, Joseph appears in their line of sight, “Joseph!” Shouts Mary. She let’s go of the gas can, leaving Caesar to hold onto the heavyweight and rushes toward Joseph. Mary hugs Joseph tightly and smiles, “Joseph! You won’t believe what just happened! There was this girl, and she had a Psyche power, and she nearly killed Caesar, and she almost flooded and drowned us, and we almost collided with the sun!” She said hastily, not allowing Joseph to process Mary’s entire word vomit. Caesar staggers his way toward the group and lightly sets the gasoline on the ground, he immediately notices Manzana’s pale body. “Hey, what’s up with Manzana?!” He exclaims. Caesar runs toward Manzana, crouches down and checks for a pulse, he then places two fingers below Manzana’s nostrils and feels Manzana’s calm, steady breathing, “Thank god he’s still alive..” He sighs. Caesar looks at Manzana’s torso and notices he’s been pierced through the stomach, and that Manzana had actually tied his red coat around the wound to stop further bleeding. “I guess he knew he couldn’t really do much, and just wallowed.”   
Caesar looks at Manzana’s blood that has come out of his stomach and on the ground, “Thank frigging goodness that the blood hasn’t dried.”   
Bloody Sunday appears over Manzana and points the palm of its right hand at the blood. Manzana’s blood then begins to go back inside of his body, but at the cost of Caesar’s right hand being in extreme pain, Caesar winces and bites on his lip when the pain becomes stronger and unbearable, “Ignore it, Caesar..” He thought, “Manzana won’t bleed out to death just because you decided that hand pains were too much..” 

Gusto inhales sharply through his nose and exhales through his mouth, “Man, that was insane, huh Joseph?” Said Gusto. Joseph nods tiredly, “Sure was, Mr. Tahara. ‘Thought it’ll never end..”   
Gusto turns to look at Javin, who’s still slumped against the wall, to find that he’s reaching his arm toward Gusto.   
“Bozhiy... Palets..” He says weakly.   
Nothing happens.   
“Hey, you’re still alive?” Gusto says angrily. He stomps toward Javin, gun cocked and in his hand.   
“Mr. Tahara? What’re you gonna do?” Stammers Mary.   
“Wait, what’s he doin’?” Asks Joseph.   
“Mary! Heal Manzana’s torso wound, quick!” Shouts Caesar. Mary gasps, “Manzana!” She quickly rushes toward Manzana with a limp and stares in shock as she witnesses her friend nearly bleed out to death.   
“Mary, use Ave Maria to heal Manzana!”   
“Uh..” Mary looks at Gusto, he now has his gun in his hand and is walking toward Javin, “Hold on!”   
Ave Maria appears right next to Caesar but has a noticeable change in appearance.   
Ave Maria’s entire torso and legs are lanky and skinny, holding itself at a terrifying height of 6’10. Ave Maria’s face still remains odd, its eyes are now missing and now lacks a mouth. Ave Maria’s left hand is completely covered in white, while the rest of their skin remains black as night.   
“Woah! Ave Maria’s totally changed!” Exclaims Joseph.   
Gusto turns to his head toward Ave Maria in interest, “Holy shit.” He mutters, “Mary, you’re Psyche power had just matured!”   
“Huh? Matured?” She asks.   
“Yeah, your Psyche power has matured from its previous state and is now more competent.”   
Mary looks at him, confused, and turns to look at Ave Maria, “Woah! You’re right! But.. how? How did this ‘maturity’ of my Psyche happen?”   
“It happens when you use your Psyche power long enough.” Explained Gusto, “It’s an upgrade to your power.”   
“Isn’t that like the Second Wind, though?” Asked Joseph.   
“Nah, Second Wind only happens after death, and it gives you a whole new Psyche power instead of an upgrade of your original Psyche power.”  
“An upgrade huh?” Thought Mary, “Then what’s different?” She asks.   
“Pssh, I dunno. I bet that new, white left hand on Ave Maria might be a clue!” Said Gusto. Gusto then faces away from Mary, “Now.. What was I about to do?” Thought Gusto, but he recollects quickly, “Oh yeah!” He says in relief.   
Gusto grips onto his gun as he begins to walk toward Javin again. Mary sweats as she sees this, and glances at Ave Maria, “Erm.. Ave Maria! Quickly heal Manzana!” She commands.   
Ave Maria nods compliantly, and lightly places the left hand onto Manzana’s stomach, he quickly heals from his wound!   
“Wow! That was fast!” Said Caesar, “Manzana, are you okay? C’mon, say something!”   
Manzana is quiet for a moment, “..Something.” He whispers. Manzana cracks a smile as Caesar frowns, “Just get up...” Groans Caesar.   
Mary quickly faces away from Caesar and Manzana and quickly runs toward Gusto.   
“Mr. Tahara, what’re you doing?” She shouts.   
“Ending this.” He replies calmly.   
“Ending what? Mr. Tahara, ending what!?” Mary asks, now aggravated.   
“Ending this guy's life, he’s caused enough trouble.” Said Gusto.   
Gusto stops walking and points his gun at Javin, who’s barely breathing.   
“No, Gusto! Don’t kill him!” Mary says, trying to slap the gun away from Gusto.   
“Please, Mary, don’t get in my way. This man has committed crimes that have endangered mankind itself. The earth colliding with the sun was of the fault of this man!” Explained Gusto.   
“Please, no Gusto.. Isn’t this man deserving of a second chance?” Asked Mary.   
“Unfortunately, no.” Gusto replied.   
“What’re you guys yapping about?” Asked Manzana, Caesar holds onto Manzana’s arm, aiding him with walking so he won’t collapse, “I swear, it’s giving me a damn migraine.”   
Mary looks at Manzana, “Manzana! Please, tell Mr. Tahara to not kill this man!”   
Manzana looks at Mary, then at Javin, “You mean the guy who almost killed Joseph and me? You want me to tell my dad to spare his life?”   
“Well, I, Uh..” stammers Mary, “Joseph!” She shouts, “You agree with me, right?”   
Joseph shakes his head, “Sorry, sis. I agree with Gusto, he literally killed us all.”   
Mary turns to face Caesar, “Caesar, you-“ Mary is immediately cut off by Caesar, “I’m sorry, Mary.” He says, “I honestly don’t care for the fate of this man.”   
Tears begin to well up in Mary's eyes, she turns to face Manzana, “Manzana, you’re my friend, you agree that the life of this man should be spared, right?”   
Manzana looks at Mary and notices that she’s nearly crying, he then looks at Joseph, who’s shaking his head, he looks at Caesar, he shrugs at him. Manzana then looks at Gusto, who’s staring coldly at him. 

Manzana stays quiet for a moment, wondering if he should agree in sparing the man for the sake of his friend, or agree with his father and Joseph for what might be considered as the ‘right’ thing. 

“Kill him.” He says.   
Mary looks at him, confused, “Huh?”   
“We’re doing him a favor. Look at him, he’s gravely injured, probably will die in the next hour or so, killing him will be a merciful one. Is that good for you, Mary?.  
“No! That’s worse!” Says Mary.  
“Then what do you want?! The man is still an obvious threat, mercy killing him sounds like the option can appease both you and my father, Mary, I’m being blunt with you because I’m your friend, and because I’m your friend, I’m telling you that killing him will make him at peace, he’ll be in a better life than the one he’s currently in.”   
Mary glares at the ground sorrowfully, “I just.. Life shouldn’t be treated so recklessly..”   
“Mary, I’m not trashing on your ideals, but sometimes, there are terrible, terrible people who deserve death. And this guy is one of those people, so please, let my father do what he does best.”   
Mary finally agrees and nods, “Fine. Just please, if we encounter a bounty hunter who’s not as bad as this man, can we please, please spare them?”   
Manzana nods, “We’ll see. We’ll see.”   
Mary glances around and finds the RV, she’s speed walks toward it, her legs shaking and lip quivering, she enters the RV, sits on one of the couches, and covers her ears.   
“Wow, Manzana.” Said Caesar, “That was..”   
“Not much,” Manzana replies immediately. He moves away from Caesar and begins to walk toward the RV, “Don’t be amazed by my communication skills, trust me, there’s not much of it. Besides, to be entirely honest, I’m not even sure if I’ve made the right decision, it just felt right.”  
Manzana then enters the RV and sits across from Mary.   
“Hm, he didn’t know if it was the right decision, it just felt like it was to him. Is this Manzana slowly revealing his character to me? Hopefully so..” Thought Caesar.   
Joseph jogs toward the RV, “Ay, redheaded weasel, don’t forget the gasoline, okay? We need that to.. y’know, operate a car. Not like you knew that though!” He shouts as he enters the RV.   
Caesar lightly chuckles, “That big asshole..”   
Caesar glances at Gusto and walks right next to him, “Are you going to do it?” He asks.   
“Huh? Oh, yeah.. I am.” Gusto says somewhat gloomily.   
“What’s wrong? Weren’t you all for killing him?”   
“Yeah.” Replies Gusto, “But, the way it hurt Mary just kinda put a sour taste in my mouth, but my son’s right anyway, it’s a mercy kill.”  
Gusto aims his gun at Javin’s head and shoots him without hesitation, “Let’s start heading out before the police arrive.” Said Gusto.   
Gusto grabs the gasoline, walks toward the RV and begins filling it with gas, “Hey, Caesar, get in the RV, we’ll be headin out shortly.”   
Caesar nods and enters the RV, he sits next to Manzana, who’s also sitting next to Joseph.   
“So.. some day, huh?” Said Caesar.   
“Mhm.” Replied Manzana.   
They both sit there in silence as uncomfortable silence seeps in.   
Joseph snickers, “Man, redhead, do you know how to socialize?” Joseph rolls onto the floor and relaxes, “Now this is more comfortable. Manzana, how do you still sit on that uncomfortable ass sofa? It HAS to be killing your back, or giving you early Alzheimers.”   
Manzana chuckles, “Alzheimer's? Don’t you mean scoliosis or something?”   
“Pssh, potato, potatoe, same thing, right?” Replied Joseph.  
Manzana smiles, “Speaking of uncomfortable, how was that hit to the head from earlier feel like?”   
“How else will it feel like? Like a hit over the head! You have no idea how much pain I was in, man! I swear, that Javin guy destroyed some brain cells!”   
Caesar lightly chuckles, “Like there were any cells in your brain to begin with.”   
They sit there quietly again.   
Suddenly, Manzana erupts in laughter, “pfft, yeah, Joseph, how can your brain cells be destroyed.. if you didn’t have any to begin with?” Manzana laughs again and Caesar chuckles.   
“Wow, did I really make him laugh like that?” Thought Caesar, “Makin’ progress, Caesar!”   
“Shuddup! Or I’ll mess you up more than your hair!” Laughed Joseph. He gets back on the sofa and laughs with Manzana.   
Gusto enters the RV and sits on the drivers seat, “Hey, no co-pilot? C’mon, you guys are making me feel lonely up here.”   
Joseph stands up and sits on the passengers' seat, “No worries, Captain Tahara, co-pilot Joseph Siant is here on duty.”   
“Good. Put something good on the radio then.” Replies Gusto.  
Gusto looks behind the seat to look at the kids, “Alright, nerds, change of plans, we’re not immediately going to the next spot on our destination, but have to be delayed and stop by Aviapark, got it?”   
“Aviapark?” Asks Caesar, “You mean that gigantic mall?!”   
“Obviously! We need gear to prepare ourselves for the upcoming waves!” Said Gusto.   
“Alright captain, let’s begin our grand voyage!” Said Joseph. Gusto begins the car and begins to drive away from the area.   
Caesar begins to read his bible while Manzana naps on the sofa and Mary sits there quietly.   
“Caesar?” Mary asks quietly, “You forgot to tell me how you did all that cool crap against Isidora, like surviving that blade to the eye.”   
Caesar smiles and puts down the Bible for a moment, “You know how I can manipulate blood however I like?”   
“Yeah?”   
“Well, I kinda used the blood inside my head to grab onto the blade-like glue and stopped it from entering my brain, and I did the ice, ball blood thing from a movie I saw called Kill Will, and..”   
Caesar continues to talk while Mary indulges in his rambling, and at the same time, Manzana listens to Caesar geek out about movies he watched and how he can incorporate the fighting choreography into his own fighting style. 

From Lenin’s Mausoleum, Aviapark is merely 22 minutes away in car.


End file.
